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1. The Real Estate Swindler Who Fooled Seattle

   A smooth-talking con artist masquerading as an 'Eastern capitalist' swindled multiple Seattle banks by weaving himself into the city's booming real estate market.

   Mar 21, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust · True Crime

2. The 175-Pound Ghost That Fought Back

   A skeptic grabbed a séance spirit, discovered a 175-pound man under the gauze, and touched off a fistfight in a Fremont parlor.

   Nov 27, 1903The Evening StatesmanSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

3. Two Preachers, One Real-Estate Boom, and a Referee’s Biblical Burn

   In 1892 Seattle, ministers sold Ravenna Park lots from the pulpit—then sued each other over the commissions.

   Jun 30, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerRavenna Park, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust · Scandal

4. The Fight Over Seattle's 'Wild and Visionary' Boulevard Plan

   A citizen raises alarms over the city's costly early attempts to expand public parks and infrastructure, accusing local real estate speculators of driving the vision.

   Dec 31, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSand Point, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

5. The Day Seattle’s Wealthiest Bankers Challenged the Taxman

   In a landmark 1876 legal maneuver, Arthur Denny and Dexter Horton petitioned King County Commissioners to stop paying taxes on their mortgage loans, arguing that taxing the debt while the property was already taxed amounted to double taxation.

   Sep 11, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

6. The Sheriff’s Gavel: Two Families Lose Their Homes in Snohomish

   In March 1877, the Snohomish County Sheriff seized and scheduled the sale of real estate for two different local families to satisfy court judgments, marking a stark moment in the territory's early legal history.

   Apr 21, 1877The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyFollow the Money

7. The Wooden Revolver That Freed Ten Prisoners

   Thomas Blanck held a jailer hostage with a carved fake gun, emptied the King County jail, and vanished into Seattle's streets.

   Mar 18, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

8. Her Wages Bought the House at Fourth and Plum. The Sheriff’s Deed Was Canceled.

   Elizabeth Burkett turned a $700 gift into a hotel and a home. When a Pierce County judgment against her husband threatened it, a Thurston County judge traced the property back to her own labor.

   Oct 23, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money

9. The Keeley Cure Comes to Olympia

   Olympia's Keeley Institute promises release from drink, and the Tribune opens a discreet charity fund for patients who cannot pay.

   Dec 21, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyNightlife · Snake Oil

10. The Real-Estate Man Who Talked to His Dead Wives

    A Seattle real-estate operator was committed to Steilacoom after a court found him insane—convinced he could commune with his dead wives and that enemies were trying to poison him with chicken lice and smallpox germs.

    Jun 1, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

11. The Real Estate Magnate of 1883

    A visiting journalist encounters a Seattle real estate booster who predicts the city will dwarf Portland and eventually become the primary trade gateway between New York and China.

    Oct 3, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

12. A Failed Seattle Bank’s Frozen Fortune

    Receiver C. M. Sheafe told the court that the Washington Savings Bank’s notes and bonds might eventually pay, but its real estate was unsellable in the hard times of 1894.

    Mar 10, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

13. Spokane Falls Fires Back at the Boom-Sayers

    A Walla Walla society paper printed a traveler's claim that Spokane Falls was a real-estate humbug at its zenith. The Falls' editor answered with population figures, water power, and an invitation to tour the new bridge.

    Oct 13, 1883Spokane Falls ReviewSpokane, Spokane CountyBoom & Bust

14. The Brick Boom: Snohomish Plans Two New Structures as Capital Floods In

    While Seattle grows, its northern neighbor is laying the groundwork for a commercial renaissance with major real estate transfers and ambitious construction plans.

    Jan 11, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSnohomish, Snohomish CountyBoom & Bust

15. The Boom That Broke the Bank: Seattle’s Real Estate Mania of 1909

    As property values skyrocket and outside capitalists flood in, local dealers declare the market stronger than ever—ignoring the warning signs of a bubble.

    Feb 17, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

16. The Abandoned Infant on Third Street

    An April Fool's Day prank turns somber when a prominent Seattle real estate developer finds a newborn left on his doorstep.

    Apr 2, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerThird Street, Seattle, King CountyHousing & Rent

17. A $650,000 Mortgage Put Walla Walla’s Gas, Electric, and Water Future in Philadelphia Hands

    The Northwestern Gas and Electric Company mortgaged its Walla Walla County plants, franchises, and water rights to secure a major bond issue—and announced new power development on the Walla Walla River.

    Oct 9, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

18. The Exclusionist Debate in 1885 Seattle

    An editorial from the Post-Intelligencer outlines the legal arguments used to justify the early efforts to bar Chinese residents from owning land in Washington Territory.

    Nov 24, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance

19. A Montana Millionaire's Secret Seattle Wedding

    Hugh F. Galen, a wealthy Helena mine owner and politician, secretly married schoolteacher Laura B. Tague at a Seattle church, then slipped away to California—leaving friends in Montana to plan a reception.

    Mar 3, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

20. The Seattle Star’s Bold Prediction: Cable Cars, Real Estate Booms, and the 'Famine' of Housing

    In March 1899, the city's leading paper championed new transit infrastructure as the key to unlocking a real estate boom, while simultaneously warning of a severe shortage of homes for newcomers.

    Mar 2, 1899The Seattle StarJackson Street, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

21. The Renters and the Landless: Seattle’s Early Conflict over Property

    An 1876 editorial from the Pacific Tribune calls out wealthy landowners for reaping the benefits of city growth created by the labor of the landless.

    Apr 6, 1876Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

22. The Vampire of Hard Times: Why Seattle's Banks Are Starving Its Growth

    An editorial in the March 1877 *Seattle Intelligencer* blames the region’s economic stagnation not on a lack of enterprise, but on predatory lending rates that are strangling local industry.

    Mar 29, 1877The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

23. The Great Olympia Real Estate Boom: 'Only a Question of Time'

    As the capital city experiences a frenzy of property sales and predicts its future as a metropolis powered by Turnwater Falls, locals debate whether the boom is sustainable or just hype.

    Feb 17, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyBoom & Bust

24. Harrington & Smith Secure Waterfront Legacy

    A landmark property transfer on Commercial Street marks the largest private real estate sale in the Territory's history.

    Mar 14, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerCommercial Street, Seattle, King CountyFollow the Money

25. The Great Capital Land Grab

    Boosterism and real estate speculation collide as small towns across Washington Territory compete to host the state capital.

    Jun 6, 1889The Yakima HeraldOlympia, Thurston CountyBoom & Bust

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