The Unfinished Street
Property owners battle the city over a tax assessment for a street that was never built.
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 suit of George Haisch and other property owners on South Twelfth Street against the city to have the reassessment of that street declared void and the grade tax lien claimed by the city set aside, was submitted to Judge Langley for decision late yesterday afternoon. The first two days of the trial were devoted to testimony, which disclosed that for a distance of about fifteen blocks, no attempt was made to grade South Twelfth Street more than half the width, and that for a like distance, there was no sidewalk on the east side, although the contract made by the city with E. T. Smart called for the grading and sidewalking of the entire distance. Plaintiffs argued that the gross neglect of the city constituted a legal fraud upon the property owners and rendered the acceptance of the work by the city void. The city countered that the acceptance of public improvements by an authorized agent is conclusive in the absence of actual fraud.
“The property owners should not be made to pay for a street which was never constructed.”
This 1893 battle over the 'unfinished street' highlights the early struggles of Seattle's rapid expansion, where contractors and city officials often bypassed quality standards. It mirrors the modern frustration of residents paying for infrastructure or public amenities that fall short of the promised specifications.
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