The Real Estate Boom of the 1880s
Promotional copy for a new suburban development near Salmon Bay promised cheap, accessible housing for the city's rapidly growing workforce.
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.
Lots 40, 50 and 60x110 feet on sale for $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's car shops. This beautiful locality is particularly 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 as follows: half down, half the balance in three months, and the remainder in six 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.
“The best located, most desirable and cheapest suburban property on the market today.”
This 1880s advertisement highlights a century-old pattern of Seattle development: marketing 'affordable' suburban lots to working-class families near industrial hubs. Today, the Ballard and Interbay areas—where this development was centered—are among the most expensive real estate in the city, showing how 'affordable' outskirt developments are eventually absorbed into the high-cost urban core.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.