The Last-Second Injunction That Saved a Seattle Building From the Railroad
Judge Langley cleared the way for demolition, then a federal mortgage-holder's suit stopped the axes at the Colman block.
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.
IT WAS IN RESERVE. One Item's Horn Injunction Killed, New One Served. COLMAN'S APPLICATION FAILS.
The legal conflict over the rebuilding of the ram's horn tracks developed another surprise yesterday, keeping up its record for kaleidoscopic changes. Judge Langley vacated the injunction against tearing down the Colman building, and demolition was just about to begin when another injunction, obtained two days before in the United States court by the German Savings and Loan Society of San Francisco, which holds a mortgage on the building and lot from J. M. Colman, was served just in time to prevent the first blow by the railroad forces. This gives the threatened building another respite for ten days, unless the railroad companies can induce Judge Hanford to give an earlier hearing; the matter is set for February 26.
Judge Langley's decision was strongly in favor of the railroads. He held that the plaintiffs' claims had been, or should have been, litigated in the earlier action, and that they could not now be heard to set up a supposed new cause of action. The motion for an injunction was denied.
A gang of laborers was ready to begin work as soon as the decision was rendered, and a messenger notified Superintendent Kline that the legal obstacles were removed. Cars were run across Columbia street, ladders placed against the wall, and a scaling party armed with saws and axes climbed to the roof. They were about to make the first cut when a deputy marshal served notice of the new injunction on H. Maldaugh, superintendent of bridges, who was in charge. The forces were called off and the building got another frail lease of life.
Judge Hanford's order summons the Columbia & Puget Sound, Puget Sound Shore, Northern Pacific & Puget Sound Railroad companies and the Oregon Transcontinental Company to appear on February 26. The complaint states that for over fifteen years James M. Colman and his wife have owned the land bounded by Front, Columbia and Marion streets and Puget Sound. In 1889 and 1891 Colman borrowed $100,000 and $50,000 from the German Savings and Loan Society, giving a mortgage on the block and buildings. He erected a two-story and basement brick and stone building on the Front street half and a row of corrugated iron and frame buildings on the west half. Part of the block is below high tide line and is claimed by the state, reducing the security. The plaintiffs say the railroads are assembling men with axes to destroy the corrugated iron building so they can lay a track across block L. They allege the track would separate the building, make it inaccessible, and subject it to jar, noise, smoke and sparks, driving tenants away. The society asks that the railroads be restrained from entering or destroying the buildings and from constructing the railroad on the premises.
“They were just about to make the first cut with the saw and the first hack with the ax when a deputy marshal came down and served notice of the injunction.”
The fight unfolded where First Avenue meets Columbia and Marion, in the shadow of the Colman Building that still anchors the block. Then as now, Seattle's transportation ambitions collided with property rights, lender security and the question of who gets to remake the waterfront. The last-second injunction is a reminder that megaprojects rarely proceed without a courtroom detour.
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