The 1888 Land Rush: Selling the 'Future Great City' of the Pacific
An aggressive pitch from Eshelman, Llewellyn Co. urges Seattle visitors to stop paying rent and buy into 'Ross' Second Addition' to secure their family's future.
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.
Extend a cordial invitation to all visitors to Seattle as well as to all residents to call at their offices, Post Building, Mill Street, Seattle, and spend a few minutes' time in directing printed matter of Seattle and Washington to your friends and acquaintances East, free of cost to you. And if you should wish to plant some money in the future great city of the Pacific Coast—the only Seattle in America—we can sell you lots in Ross' Second Addition for $200. (This is the manufacturing center of Seattle.) Or lots in other well-located additions; or business and residence lots on the best streets in Seattle; or suburban blocks and acres. It will pay you to call. This is your one chance in a lifetime to secure fortune, contentment and happiness. Don't be too late to secure a seat that will provide for your future, and that of your wife and children. Seattle will double in population in 12 months. The railroad capitalists and population are coming to Seattle. Become one of our prosperous citizens by securing a foothold while you have a chance. Wealth is within your grasp; have faith, invest and become a fixture in the New York of the Pacific.
“This is your one chance in a lifetime to secure fortune, contentment and happiness. Don't be too late to secure a seat that will provide for your future.”
This 1888 advertisement captures the frantic optimism of a city on the brink of a boom, echoing the relentless marketing and 'get-in-now' urgency seen in today's Seattle real estate market. The promise that 'Seattle will double in population in 12 months' reflects a perennial civic anxiety and ambition that continues to define the region's housing struggle.
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