Votkings

Votkinsk grew around an ironworks founded by Count Pyotr Shuvalov on the Votka in 1757. A large dam was built below the mouths of the Sharkan and Berezovka, and skilled workers and thousands of assigned peasants took part in construction. The first iron was produced in 1759. Hard conditions for assigned peasants contributed to unrest, and the Kama works passed to the state mining administration in 1763.

Pugachev's forces captured the settlement and works in June 1774, damaging buildings and drawing some workers into the rebellion. The plant was restored the following year. From 1779 it took up the manufacture of anchors for the navy, with Admiralty craftsmen helping to establish a dedicated forge. Its first Admiralty-pattern anchors were produced in 1782. In 1813 the works settlement received the status of a mining town.