Great Northern Moves to Seize Downtown Blocks
The expanding railway network files suit to condemn an entire city block, displacing residents and businesses in the Whitechapel district.
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.
Proceedings in the superior court on Monday for the condemnation of property in Whitechapel to furnish ground for a passenger depot and other terminal facilities for the Great Northern were supplemented yesterday by the filing of a petition to condemn Block 13 of D.S. Maynard's plat of the city of Seattle. The block in question is bounded by King, South Third, Jackson and South Fourth streets. It is covered entirely by frame buildings. All the different owners are made parties defendant to the condemnation suit, including Chauncey W. Griggs, Cyrus Walker, D.H. Jackson, and the Claussen-Sweeney Brewing Company. The Seattle & Montana Railroad Company, as petitioner, asks that a jury be impaneled to determine the compensation for the property.
“The block in question is bounded by King, South Third, Jackson and South Fourth streets. It is covered entirely by frame buildings.”
This 1892 industrial land grab in the Pioneer Square area illustrates the long history of Seattle's development through displacement. Today, the intersection of King and 4th remains a critical rail and transit hub, still subject to the same tensions between private rail interests, public infrastructure, and the rights of those standing in the way of 'progress.'
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