An Invitation to a Vanished Olympia Homestead
A real estate advertisement from 1872 offers a glimpse into a long-lost residential property on the site of the original Thurston County Courthouse.
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.
For Sale! A desirable homestead in Olympia, consisting of two lots on the old Court House Block, with a comfortable cottage house with convenient outhouses, an excellent spring of living water, an abundance of fruit of the best kinds and varieties, in one of the most attractive situations in the city. Price $2,500. Inquire of Larrabee & Co., Seattle; or P. Tarbell, Real Estate Agent, Olympia.
“An abundance of fruit of the best kinds and varieties, in one of the most attractive situations in the City.”
Today's housing market in Olympia—and Seattle—is characterized by extreme scarcity and skyrocketing values, a far cry from the homestead model of 1872. While the 'old Court House Block' has long since been subsumed by modern urban development, the appeal of a house with its own fruit trees and spring water remains a classic, if elusive, Pacific Northwest dream.
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