The 'Small Fortune' Lottery in Early Seattle
A 1888 real estate promotion for Jackson and Rainier streets promised investors not just a home, but a chance at a windfall in a property lottery.
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.
Jackson and Rainier Streets Addition is one of the largest, best located and most desirable tracts ever placed upon the market, consisting of 60 choice residence lots, located in the growing direction of the city, and only 17 minutes ride from the Postoffice. An unprecedented offer: five elegantly finished, modern design cottages, ranging in value from $1,000 to $800 each, to be given away with the property. Every purchaser secures a lot, and five out of the whole number secure houses with the lots. Price of lots, $275 each. The greatest building enterprise ever inaugurated in Seattle, affording to each purchaser the full value of the original investment, and a small fortune in every five of the whole number. Jackson and Rainier Streets Addition is connected with the business center of Seattle by the Jackson Street Cable Railway. The cars will run every 20 minutes, and in less than three months the service will be adjusted so as to pass there every 10 minutes. The fare to and from Jackson and Rainier Streets Addition is only 5 cents. Jackson and Rainier Streets Addition is owned by Charles H. and George B. Kittinger, who are amply able to carry out the enterprise just as advertised.
“The greatest building enterprise ever inaugurated in Seattle, affording to each purchaser the full value of the original investment, and a small fortune in every five of the whole number.”
This 1888 advertisement highlights a 'boom' era tactic that mirrors modern Seattle's relentless push for development and high-stakes real estate speculation. While we no longer hold lotteries to sell houses, the promise of rapid transit connections—like the Jackson Street Cable Railway of the 1880s—remains a core feature in how developers market 'up-and-coming' neighborhoods today.
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