The Battle Against the Fire Limits
A Seattle property owner races to build a wooden structure before new city fire regulations take hold.
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.
Messrs. Kline and Rosenburg recently purchased of the Slaughter estate a piece of ground on Washington street between Commercial and South Second street, 15 by 100 feet in size, for $10,300. It was covered by two shanties, one a beer hall and the other a restaurant. No sooner had Councilman Durie given notice that he would introduce an ordinance to extend the fire limits, than the new owners had the shanties torn down, and yesterday bids were opened in H. Stienman's office for the erection of a three-story wooden building on the property. The contract was let to the contractor who is putting up the Mr. Andrews building alongside, and will cost when completed $5,000.
“No sooner had Councilman Durie given notice that he would introduce an ordinance to extend the fire limits, than the new owners had the shanties torn down.”
This 1888 account of developers rushing to build before new zoning/safety ordinances take effect is a quintessential Seattle story. The tension between rapid, unregulated expansion and municipal safety standards echoes the constant friction seen in Seattle’s modern development climate.
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