Don't Tear Down the Mineral Palace
A Seattle booster exhibit built to dazzle Great Northern investors sits empty after the Panic of 1893 — and a reader begs the city not to wreck the one thing that proves Puget Sound is worth their money.
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.
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 5, 1894. To the Editor: It would appear that some of the public unthinkingly see only the extrinsic part of the 'Mineral Palace' and fail to recognise or realise the intrinsic value, whereby one may at a glance observe the more notable and leading industries of the Sound slope, and in a half hour's inspection of the exhibits secure a more tangible conception of our resources than could be acquired in many columns of reading matter. There is but little romance in the average capitalist: cold-blooded, prosaic, his pulse quickens not one throb at the glowing description and glittering generalities of mere words, oral or written. The quickened attention, the nervous enthusiasm when ocular proof is given, backed by demonstrated statistics of what is and what does exist, furnishes an actuality to premise future values upon. The 'Palace' was built to show the prospective moneyed guests of the Great Northern railroad the resources of Puget sound, but because of the financial stringency they failed to materialize. The majority of visitors to the Mid-winter fair in San Francisco will avail themselves of the chance to visit the much-talked-of Puget sound. Seattle has pre-eminently and practically recommended itself as a safe basis from which to operate. Her self-reliant unity of action in financial crises evidences the superior ability of her business men of all lines and classes. Such a country and such a people, having innate worth and stability, commends them to the shrewd men seeking a safe field for profitable investment. This pioneer place, building and contents, is a fair epitome of that which may be seen in the field. California, foreseeing the class of people who will 'take in' the Midwinter fair, while her objective business point is Puget sound, has established an agency for her orange grove lands in Seattle; hence every effort should be made, in a legitimate way, to impress the visitor with our superior per cent. advantages. At this time it would certainly be unwise to remove the mineral palace, but rather it should be rehabilitated in every department. This being done, I would most earnestly urge that our mine owners exert themselves to secure large and average ore samples from their claims — likewise a section of the country or enclosing wall-rock — and on cards give the location, width of vein and pay streak, and trend or direction the ledge has, and owner's name and address. 'There is a tide in the affairs of men,' etc. Don't tear down the mineral palace! TAYLOR D. MACLEOD.
“There is but little romance in the average capitalist: cold-blooded, prosaic, his pulse quickens not one throb at the glowing description and glittering generalities of mere words.”
Seattle has always sold itself with props: a mineral palace in 1894, a World's Fair in 1962, a cluster of glass towers today. This letter captures the moment the booster bubble of the early 1890s punctured — the Great Northern's moneyed guests never arrived — and the argument over whether to preserve or bulldoze the city's own marketing set pieces is one we are still having every time a landmark faces a wrecking ball.
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