Robert Moran (January 26, 1857 – March 27, 1943) was a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

who served as the city's mayor from 1888 to 1890. Today he is primarily remembered for Moran Brothers Co. shipbuilders, his work as mayor to rebuild after the

Great Seattle fire The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington on June 6, 1889. The conflagration lasted for less than a day, burning through the afternoon and into the night, and during the same sum ...

, and his large estate on

Orcas Island Orcas Island () is the largest of the San Juan Islands of the Pacific Northwest, which are in the northwestern corner of San Juan County, Washington. History and naming of the island The name "Orcas" is a shortened form of ''Horcasitas,'' fro ...

, which became a resort and Moran State Park.

Biography

A native of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, Moran was 18 when, in 1875, he arrived penniless in Seattle, a frontier outpost in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Tho ...

, which had been settled in November 1851, and only incorporated between 1865 and 1869. After years of working on steamboats he earned enough money to send for his family and, by 1882, he and his brothers started a marine repair business at Yesler's wharf. The Moran Brothers Company prospered during the Klondike Gold Rush when, among other projects, they built a fleet of twelve

paddlewheel A paddle wheel is a form of waterwheel or impeller in which a number of paddles are set around the periphery of the wheel. It has several uses, of which some are: * Very low-lift water pumping, such as flooding paddy fields at no more than about ...

riverboat A riverboat is a watercraft designed for inland navigation on lakes, rivers, and artificial waterways. They are generally equipped and outfitted as work boats in one of the carrying trades, for freight or people transport, including luxury un ...

s ( hull Nos. 9–20), which were successfully delivered to the

Yukon River The Yukon River ( Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän: ''Tth'echù'' or ''Chuu k'onn'', Southern Tutchone: Chu Nìikwän, russian: Юкон, Yukon) is a major watercourse ...

. In 1888, 31-year-old Robert Moran was elected the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

mayor of Seattle. In those early years, the town's mayors were elected in July for a one-year term. Near the end of his service, on June 6, 1889, the

Great Seattle Fire The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington on June 6, 1889. The conflagration lasted for less than a day, burning through the afternoon and into the night, and during the same sum ...

destroyed most of the central business district. Moran's leadership in coordinating the recovery activities won him a second term in the following month's election. Through the period of his mayoralty, he was instrumental in the successful rebuilding of businesses, including Moran Bros., which was destroyed in the fire. His political connections were also very helpful in securing government contracts for his shipbuilding company. Among his administration's rebuilding efforts was the public overhaul of Seattle's water system and the establishment of a

savings and loan association A savings and loan association (S&L), or thrift institution, is a financial institution that specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage and other loans. The terms "S&L" or "thrift" are mainly used in the United States; simi ...

, which later became

Washington Mutual Washington Mutual (often abbreviated to WaMu) was the United States' largest savings and loan association until its collapse in 2008. A savings bank holding company is defined in United States Code: Title 12: Banks and Banking; Section 1842: Def ...

Following his mayoral service, Moran devoted all his efforts to his shipbuilding business and, in 1904, climaxed his career with his shipyard's launch of the USS ''Nebraska'',

Washington state Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

's only battleship. He was told in 1905 that he had one year to live, and retreated to

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ) is a sound of the Pacific Northwest, an inlet of the Pacific Ocean, and part of the Salish Sea. It is located along the northwestern coast of the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected ma ...

's San Juans, where he built the Moran Mansion—surrounded at that time by of land—that is now the centerpiece of Rosario Resort. He sold the shipbuilding company for an undisclosed price between US$2.5 and 3.5 million in 1906. Moran spent the remainder of his life in retirement on Orcas Island. In 1916, he had a yacht built called the ''Sanwan'', though it seems that ship saw little use. Influenced by chance encounters with conservationist

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist ...

, he donated of Rosario to the state of Washington for preservation, which became Moran State Park in 1921. Following the death of his wife in 1932, he put the estate up for sale, however when he did finally sell it years later, it was at a fraction of its cost. From there he moved into a smaller home on Orcas. He died in 1943 and was buried in the Moran family plot in

Lake View Cemetery Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...

in Seattle.

Notes

Bibliography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Robert Politicians from New York City Mayors of Seattle American manufacturing businesspeople Maritime history of Washington (state) 1857 births 1943 deaths Shipbuilding in Washington (state) Washington (state) Republicans