The Wild Rush for a Mining Exchange
Prominent investors race to establish a formal trading floor on First Avenue as the Klondike Gold Rush transforms Seattle into a global commercial hub.
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.
It has always been a surprise to mining men upon visiting Seattle for the first time to find there was no Mining Exchange established in a city recognized as the commercial center of a state so rich in mineral possibilities as the State of Washington. Realizing the necessity of such an enterprise, a syndicate of prominent mining men have associated themselves together, leased, and will equip and furnish the large, commodious rooms at 609 First Avenue in the Mutual Life Insurance Building. They have closed contracts with the Western Union Telegraph Company for the daily transmission of the Spokane Mining Exchange markets. There is no reason, with the resources so nearby, and the intelligence and capital of our citizens, why a legitimate Mining Exchange cannot be sustained in our city. There will be none but stocks of merit listed, and to give everyone an opportunity to attend, the management have decided to hold evening sessions for the present time, and all are invited to attend the opening session on Wednesday evening, June 7th, at 8 o'clock. If you are interested in mines or mining stocks, be sure and make it a point to attend. Mining men from all sections are requested to make the Exchange their headquarters whenever in the city. Come and bring your stock, and push a good thing along.
“There is no reason... why a legitimate Mining Exchange cannot be sustained in our city.”
This 1899 effort to professionalize speculative gold mining echoes Seattle's current obsession with tech-stock speculation and the rapid churn of downtown commercial real estate. Just as 609 First Avenue once pulsed with mining dreams, the city continues to anchor its identity to the boom-and-bust cycles of 'merit-based' industry.
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