Georgetown Steam Plant

This guide to the Georgetown Steam Plant in Seattle follows Big Black, a Chicago noise-rock band that picked this decommissioned power station for the final stop of their 1987 farewell tour. It doubles back to 1906, when Stone and Webster raised one of the first reinforced concrete buildings on the West Coast and hired efficiency pioneer Frank Gilbreth to oversee construction. Inside, General Electric installed steam turbines built on patents advanced enough to help end the age of the older reciprocating engine, machines that powered streetcars and homes across Georgetown for decades.