Kirkland — Thumbnail History (historylink.org)The city of Kirkland, located on the northeastern shore of Lake Washington east of Seattle, is named for Peter Kirk (1840-1916). Kirk was a British steel industrialist who originally envisioned Kirkland as a bustling steel town. Kirk’s plans didn’t materialize. Nevertheless, Kirkland has become by the twenty-first century a thriving suburban community of almost 50,000 people.