The Unraveling of the Washington Savings Bank
Facing a stagnant real estate market and steady deposit withdrawals, a downtown bank opts for an orderly closure to protect its depositors.
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.
On Saturday afternoon, the trustees of the Washington Savings Bank, located in the Yesler building on Front street, determined to go out of business. As a preliminary step toward winding up its affairs, a petition for the appointment of a receiver was filed in the superior court yesterday. Judge Langley appointed C. M. S. Heefe as receiver, with his bond fixed at $25,000. The closing of the bank cannot be called a failure, as it might have continued in business for some time to come. However, the general condition of the money market made it difficult to realize on its securities, which were mostly real estate mortgages. Since last July, the bank has paid out over $100,000 of its deposits. After consulting with the clearing house association, the trustees decided that liquidation was the best course to pursue to ensure depositors are paid dollar for dollar.
“The bank has paid out over $100,000 of its deposits, and the increasing difficulty of making collections and disposing of securities has caused the cash balance to run low.”
This 1894 bank closure reflects the fragility of Seattle’s early real estate-backed economy during the Panic of 1893. Today, the Yesler building’s legacy reminds us how downtown's financial core remains vulnerable to the boom-and-bust cycles of the regional property market.
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