Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant | |
.jpg) Cedar Falls crib dam, 1903 | |
   | |
| Location | 20030 Cedar Falls Rd. SE, North Bend, Washington |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 47°25′09″N 121°46′55″W / 47.419298°N 121.781868°W |
| Area | 88 acres (36 ha) |
| Built | 1904 |
| Built by | City of Seattle Engineering Dept. |
| Architectural style | industrial vernacular |
| NRHP reference No. | 97001077[1] |
| Added to NRHP | September 11, 1997 |
Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant, also known as Cedar Falls Historic District, is a public hydroelectric plant near North Bend, Washington operated by Seattle City Light. The plant on the Cedar River was the first publicly-owned electrical generating plant for Seattle and one of the earliest in the country for a municipality of its size. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.[2]
The population of Seattle grew rapidly from 3500 in 1880 to 237,000 in 1910, and the city needed to provide power to its population. Electricity was first used for street lights, and then for electric railways. Ultimately, private customers were provided electricity for lighting and appliances. The Seattle Municipal Light and Power Plant's initial capacity of 3500 kilowatts was increased to 13,500 kilowatts by 1910,[2] and further improvements brought capacity to 40,000 kilowatts.[3] Residents of the city paid one of the country's lowest electrical rates per kilowatt hour,[2] more than half the rate charged by the private firm Seattle Electric Company (renamed Puget Sound Power and Light).[4]
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
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