The Dream of a Working-Class Suburb at Palatine Hill
Promoters marketed the new Palatine Hill addition near Salmon Bay as the ideal, affordable commuter retreat for the city's growing workforce of laborers and mechanics.
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 Addition to Seattle offers lots of 40, 50, and 60 by 110 feet for only $100 to $150 per lot. It is 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 & Eastern Railroad and within 10 minutes' easy walk of Ross Station on that road. It is four minutes' walk to Salmon Bay and one mile to Smith Cove car shops. This beautiful locality is particularly suited for the location of homes. As it is within easy reach of the Seattle center by rail or carriage road, and with the various manufactories already situated there and the various ones that have secured sites to locate there within the next few months, there will be demand 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. A great advantage is that there is a schoolhouse on the ground for the children. 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.
“This beautiful locality is particularly suited for the location of homes.”
This 1888 advertisement highlights the perennial Seattle dream of affordable suburban living tied to industrial growth. It echoes current debates about transit-oriented development and the struggle to provide workforce housing within reach of the urban core.
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