The Northern Pacific Railroad's Sudden Respect for Seattle
For years the railroad ignored Seattle, but a shift in power has forced a grudging acknowledgment of the city's potential to rival San Francisco.
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.
Mr. Villard is an audacious man. Either that, or a great change has come over the dreams of the Northern Pacific Directors. At the meeting the other day, he actually referred to Seattle, and furthermore, he told other members of the company that it was (as also Tacoma) a place likely to rival San Francisco. This was an extraordinary and unprecedented speech to the Northern Pacific Board of Directors—to men who have heretofore bestowed upon us their most lofty disdain, who have affected to ignore us, who have omitted us from their books and left us out of their maps, and who have acted the small potato in the most contemptible manner on every occasion in their past dealings with this city. The time of these men is gone, however, and the people in the whole Northern Pacific country have reason to bless the day when they passed out of power and Henry Villard passed in.
“The Northern Pacific Board of Directors... have acted the small potato in the most contemptible manner on every occasion.”
This reflects the long-standing, fraught relationship between Seattle and the railroad barons who literally dictated the city's growth. Today, the power dynamic has shifted from railroad tycoons to tech giants, yet the city still grapples with how to maintain autonomy against the outsized influence of 'big' entities.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.