The Dream of 'Palatine Hill': Selling the Industrial Suburb
Promotional copy from 1888 captures the rapid-fire development of Seattle’s outskirts, dangling the promise of affordable housing to laborers near the new railroad lines.
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.
Palatine Hill. Lots 40, 50, and 60x100 feet. Only $100 to $150 per lot. The best located, most desirable, and cheapest suburban property on the market today. It is situated within three and a half miles of the Seattle Post Office on the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad, and within 10 minutes' easy walk of Ross Station on that road. Four minutes' walk to Salmon Bay. One mile to Smith Cove car shops. This beautiful locality is particularly well suited for the location of homes. As it is within easy reach of Seattle center by rail or carriage road, and with the numerous manufactories already situated there, and the various ones that have secured sites to locate there within the next few months, there will be opportunities for hundreds of machinists, carpenters, masons, and, in fact, all kinds of skilled and unskilled laborers. Ross Post Office is soon to be established, as is also a general merchandise store, which will add much to the value, and a great advantage is that there is a schoolhouse on the ground for the children. Liberal terms offered: Payments shall be made $10 down, $10 the balance in 3 months, and the remainder in 6 months, at 8 percent. Builders of homes: We offer to all builders of homes worth not less than $250 each within three months after purchase, their lots at from $75 to $100 each according to location.
“There will be opportunities for hundreds of machinists, carpenters, masons, and, in fact, all kinds of skilled and unskilled laborers.”
This 1888 advertisement highlights the birth of the 'commuter suburb' in Seattle, framing land ownership as the ultimate stability for the working class. Today, the geography of Palatine Hill—now part of the growing neighborhoods near Interbay and Ballard—reflects the same tension between industrial proximity and the skyrocketing cost of urban land.
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