The Past is in the Attic: LW Senior to Share History Project on Kirkland Pioneer

ON SEPT. 9, 1886, John George Kellett arrived in Seattle and stayed the night at the Hotel Brunswick after travelling west from England, over the Rocky Mountains, down the Columbia River and north through Portland. 

At the time Kellett was the chief engineer of the company Moss Bay Hematite Iron and Steel, Limited, and his business associate was Peter Kirk.  The two men were bent on claiming their fair share of the large mineral deposits discovered in the Cascades 10 years prior.  And it was Kellett who eventually, while platting the town site on Lake Washington, donned it “Kirkland” after Peter Kirk, among other things. Kellett also named several streets in Kirkland and provided the names for “Moss Bay” and “Rose Hill.” 

Kellett’s story is just a tiny aspect of Kirkland’s history.  But his story is not one stuck in the past.

Marin Harris, a senior, is providing new details to Kellett’s narrative.  Her father grew up in Kirkland’s historic John and Martha Kellett home and Marin’s grandmother still resides there. Marin was lucky enough to unearth some until now hidden treasures from the Kellett home’s attic.  

Fortunately for Kirkland’s historians and residents alike, Marin will be sharing her discoveries about the Kellett family during a presentation to the Kirkland Heritage Society on April 25 at starting at 7 p.m. The presentation will form her senior project.

Another interesting fact about Kellett: he was Kirkland’s first school board director.  Marin might ask herself, how would Kellett grade her senior project?  But an answer to that question won’t likely be found in an attic anytime soon.

----

Trent Latta is an attorney and current member of Kirkland's Cultural Council.  He can be reached at tlatta@mcdougaldlaw.com.