The Great Land Office Migration
When the federal government moved the regional land office from Olympia to Seattle, the move signaled a pivotal shift in the economic gravity of the Puget Sound.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The removal of the land office for this district from Olympia to Seattle cannot but be regarded as a wise act. For a long time, the necessity of locating the office at a more central point has been seen and appreciated, and it is difficult to understand why the change was not made long ago. Seattle is a better point for the office than Olympia, simply because it is a more central one. Of the settlers who have taken up land in the district during the past five years, probably not more than one-tenth have ever visited Olympia except in order to attend to their business at the land office. On the other hand, at least nine-tenths of them have visited Seattle, and fully one-half of them procure their supplies from Seattle and in a certain sense consider it their headquarters. Seattle is nearer the center of the district, both with reference to population, than any other eligible point, and the lines of travel from all parts of the district converge here.
“Seattle is a better point for the office than Olympia, simply because it is a more central one.”
This 1887 shift reflects the permanent transition of Seattle from a frontier town to the regional commercial hub. The struggle for the land office was essentially a fight over administrative and economic hegemony that cemented Seattle's dominance over the Puget Sound for the next century.
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