Jackson and Rainier Lots Came With Cottage Prizes
Before the city’s massive growth, real estate developers used high-stakes gambling to entice buyers to the edges of town.
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. It consists of 60 choice residence lots, located in the growing direction of the city, and only minutes by ride from the Post Office. In an unprecedented offer, five elegantly finished, modern design cottages, ranging in value from $800 to $1200 each, are to be given away with the property. Every purchaser secures a lot, and five out of the whole number secure houses with the lots, worth from $750 to $1200. The greatest building enterprise ever inaugurated in Seattle, it affords to each purchaser the security of the original investment, and a small fortune in every ten of the whole number. The Jackson Cable Railway starts at the corner of Jackson and Second streets, passing within a few hundred feet of the addition. The cars will run every 20 minutes, and in less than three months the service will be increased to every 10 minutes. The title is guaranteed to be absolutely perfect, and the award of houses will take place October 15, 1888.
“Every purchaser secures a lot, and five out of the whole number secure houses with the lots, worth from $750 to $1200.”
This 1888 real estate scheme highlights the early days of Seattle's rapid expansion and its long history of aggressive land speculation. The developer's attempt to use a 'lottery' to drive density along a streetcar line is a direct ancestor to modern efforts to incentivize development through transit-oriented growth.
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