The Ghost of a Rail Land Grab
A legislative power play over a parcel of land shows that in the early days of Washington Territory, legal maneuvering was as much a part of town-building as the railroads themselves.
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 Northern Pacific Railroad company lays claim to a certain piece of land adjoining the city on the south, which, if they hold at all, will be due to the advent of the railroad in this locality. It was once located with scrip by George Byrd, but after a two-year fight with the railroad company, Mr. Byrd was defeated and the railroad company once more rested on their oars, securing their title. Now comes N. B. Hannah, who made a record in the last city council as opposed to anything that had two sides to it. Mr. Hannah has filed a homestead entry on the land and will make the railroad company enter into another rough-and-tumble contest for title. While the railroad company's title is considered rather shaky, Mr. Hannah has but a small show to get the land, it having once been decided by the secretary of the interior that the land withdrawal by the railroad company was legal. It is under this withdrawal, which was subsequent to the time that the land reverted to the government, that the company lays claim. This is one of three tracts the title to the railroad of which has been contested. One of the other two is a 140-acre tract in section 21, located upon by John Daley. The other is a 160-acre tract on the tide lands, but a stone's throw from a residence known as the Hale place. The three tracts are worth about $15,000 at present, which is to say the least, a tidy sum for forty years of struggle.
“Mr. Hannah has filed a homestead entry on the land and will make the railroad company enter into another rough-and-tumble contest for title.”
The struggle for control over undeveloped land—and the legal weaponizing of zoning or claims—remains a defining feature of Seattle’s modern housing climate. Just as N.B. Hannah tried to challenge the Northern Pacific Railroad for land in the late 1800s, residents and developers continue to lock horns over ownership and the future of every available acre in the city.
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