The Dream of the Rail: Seattle’s Missed Connection
In 1876, a proposal to fund the first fifteen miles of a local railroad promised economic salvation, but petty greed and local infighting stood in the way of the city's growth.
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.
A responsible gentleman has formally proposed to the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Company to invest $60,000 in gold coin in the stock of the company, upon condition that the citizens of Seattle will advance $30,000 more upon the same material. This would be sufficient to complete the first fifteen miles of the road without issuing any bonds or leaving a dollar of indebtedness upon the company. With 15 miles completed, the company would be out of debt, with available assets of not less than $200,000, and a net income from freight, at the lowest estimate, of $60,000 a year—30 per cent upon the capital.
Nearly three years ago, the property holders of Seattle guaranteed the Northern Pacific Railroad Company a bonus of $50,000, water front rights, and $200,000 in city bonds, only to have the terminus located at Tacoma. When the people were urged to strike out on their own to build a road to Walla Walla, they responded with enthusiasm. But the project was defeated by the selfish greed and personal jealousy of many who thought they could reap all the advantages of the labor of others without making any sacrifices themselves. These selfish considerations delayed this work for nearly three years. The people of Seattle must first show their own faith by their works before capitalists on the outside will ever invest a dollar.
“The very feasibility and brilliant promise of the project defeated it. It incited the selfish greed and personal jealousy of many who became seized with the idea that the road would be built any way.”
The 1876 struggle to secure independent rail infrastructure mirrors contemporary debates over transit funding and civic development in Seattle. Just as nineteenth-century residents grappled with the 'free-rider' problem among property owners, today's city faces similar tensions between private benefit and the collective cost of building a city's future.
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