The Waterfront Right-of-Way War
Prominent developer J. M. Colman seeks to block a railroad from cutting through his prime real estate, claiming the company forfeited its right-of-way by price-gouging.
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 trial of the celebrated case of J. M. Colman against the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad Company was at last begun yesterday in Judge Osborn's court. This is the principal one of the suits growing out of the threatened extension of the company's tracks along the 'Ram's Horn' right-of-way north of Columbia Street. Colman owns the block of land extending from Front Street to deep water, between Columbia and Marion Streets. In 1884 he granted the defendant a right-of-way, subject to a number of conditions. When the tracks were destroyed in the fire, the company's attempt to rebuild met with strong opposition. Colman's suit aims to prevent the tracks from extending across his block, where he was preparing to erect the Colman Building. Colman alleges that the right-of-way is located far to the west of the one currently claimed by the railroad, and that the company violated its contract by charging him excessive rates for hauling coal compared to other firms, thereby forfeiting its rights.
“The company has violated the contract to charge the Cedar River Coal Company no more for hauling coal and supplies than it charged other companies, and therefore has forfeited the right-of-way.”
Colman’s fight to protect his property from rail encroachment captures the intense friction of early Seattle development. The Colman Building, which he was building at the time, eventually became one of the city's most iconic historic structures, anchoring the very waterfront that was once the site of this bitter legal battle.
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