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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1872 | 11 |
| 1876 | 74 |
| 1877 | 66 |
| 1878 | 49 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 7 |
| 1882 | 17 |
| 1883 | 53 |
| 1884 | 21 |
| 1885 | 47 |
| 1886 | 15 |
| 1887 | 19 |
| 1888 | 78 |
| 1889 | 119 |
| 1890 | 9 |
| 1891 | 56 |
| 1892 | 79 |
| 1893 | 81 |
| 1894 | 83 |
| 1895 | 100 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 10 |
| 1899 | 17 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 33 |
| 1904 | 24 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 4 |
| 1908 | 12 |
| 1909 | 41 |
| 1910 | 10 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 18 |
| 1915 | 14 |
| 1916 | 17 |
| 1917 | 7 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1923 | 5 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
1,232 stories matching lot
- Twelve Thousand Lots and a Deadline to Prove You Live There
Port Angeles appraisers faced 12,000 lots, each with improvements to value, while settlers rushed to establish residence before the appraisal closed.
- The 1876 Land Hustle
A classic real estate promotion from the era offers a 'buy one, get one' incentive to settlers willing to build homes in early Seattle.
- The Renton Addition Gold Rush
Before the neighborhood existed, Seattle land speculators stoked a frenzy for 'prime' lots along Madison Street, capping sales to prevent a total buyout on the first day.
- The House-Lot Lottery of 1888
In an era of rapid expansion, Seattle developers entice buyers with a high-stakes gimmick: buy a lot, and you might just win a free cottage.
- The Great Seattle Lot-and-Cottage Gamble
In the summer of 1888, developers launched a high-stakes, city-wide lottery to sell residential lots, promising ten lucky buyers a move-in ready home.
- Five Cottages Lured Buyers to 1888 Seattle Lots
A real estate promotion promised a 'small fortune' by raffling off five luxury cottages to buyers of building lots near the burgeoning Jackson Street cable line.
- Ten Cottages and 110 Lots in an 1888 Seattle Drawing
In 1888, real estate developers in Seattle drummed up interest in a new subdivision by raffling off modern cottages to property buyers.
- The Great Potato Feeding Experiment
Agricultural researchers in the late 1890s tested whether potatoes, mangels, or sugar beets were the most profitable feed for range-raised lambs.
- Usk Sells Its First Lots as a New Town Rises on the Pend Oreille
Promoters unload $8,000 in lots on opening day as Newport businesses buy in; a lumber yard, bank, telephone line and hotel follow.
- The Great Seattle Lot-and-Cottage Lottery of 1888
Developers Kittinger Brothers launch an ambitious and speculative real estate scheme, baiting buyers with the chance to win a fully finished home on the outskirts of 1880s Seattle.
- The Building Boom of 1889: Seattle’s Rapid Transformation
A look at the official building permits issued in May 1889, documenting the surge of brick and frame construction that was reshaping the city just weeks before the Great Seattle Fire.
- A House and Lot for Sale on Second Street (Dec 16, 1876)
A straightforward classified advertisement for a house and lot on 2nd Street offers a window into the rapid, transactional growth of 1870s Seattle.
- The Lawyer Who Pocketed the Property
A Supreme Court ruling exposes a shady real estate scheme involving a local attorney and a disputed Tacoma property.
- Five Cottages in 1888 Seattle Jackson-Rainier Lot Drawing
Developers used a high-stakes raffle system to offload residential plots in the city's rapidly expanding Rainier Valley.
- The 'Free Lot' Scam
A Tacoma resident exposes a real estate scheme offering 'free' land to lure investors into paying high notary fees for worthless property.
- 1888 Seattle Land Sale Included Ten Cottage Prizes
A real estate development in South Seattle offered prospective buyers not just a plot of land, but a literal chance to win a 'Queen Anne' cottage in a public drawing.
- The City That Vanished: Seattle’s First Real Estate Bubble and the Ghosts of Terry’s Addition
A look back at January 1890, when Seattle’s land boom was in full swing, prices were soaring, and developers like George Dorffel were selling lots in new subdivisions to speculators eager for a quick profit.
- The Great Statehood Gamble: How Washington Territory Bet Its Future on a Coin Flip
In February 1889, Congress passed the 'Omnibus Bill' granting statehood to four territories simultaneously. For Seattle and Tacoma, this wasn't just political news—it was a high-stakes gamble that would determine their city limits, tax structures, and place in history.
- The Bugle-Call Defense of a 'Jumped' Lot
When a town committee arrived to evict a couple from a disputed lot in Port Angeles, the wife met them with a bugle and two Winchester rifles.
- A Neighborhood Stench in the West End
Residents of Tacoma’s West End demand action after a broken sewer begins dumping raw waste onto an open lot.
- Seattle Lot Listings Pitch Prime Business Corners in 1888
A classic advertisement from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reveals the city’s early land-grabbing fervor, offering prime downtown lots and suburban tracts for a fraction of today's prices.
- Seattle's Unemployed Turn Vacant Lots Into Gardens
A relief committee has placed sixty-seven families on borrowed land and handed out seed, but most applicants live in the north end while most lots are in the south.
- Seven Lots, Three Judges, and a Railroad's Sky-High Bill
With jurors suspected of being bribed, three judges took over the Great Northern condemnation case—and the valuations for a few lots near King Street swung wildly.
- The 1888 Land Grab: Seattle’s First Lottery-Style Housing Development
Before modern zoning and master plans, developers in the boom-era Northwest used gimmicks like house-lot raffles to sell undeveloped land on the city’s fringes.
- Tacoma’s War on Rubbish
The Anti-Compulsory Vaccination society leads a citywide cleanup campaign, deputizing police to hunt down vacant-lot litter.