The Boom of Chehalis County
A booster-style report on the rapid growth of the timber and agricultural sectors along Gray's Harbor, highlighting the proposed railroad to Seattle.
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.
Chehalis county is attracting widespread attention owing to its famous lumber and agricultural resources, exclusive of its vast and inexhaustible deposits of coal, iron, copper, lead, gold and silver. The construction of a railroad uniting the waters of Puget Sound with those of the Pacific ocean via Gray's Harbor is a feature of no inconsiderable moment. This route could be traveled by a locomotive in seventy minutes, thereby saving at least fifty hours' time between Seattle and San Francisco. Chehalis county lies on the coast range, has an area of 2,000 square miles, and a population of three to four thousand. The soil is the richest in the territory, producing large crops of wheat, oats and barley. The timber, which flourishes in endless abundance—cedar, fir, spruce, maple, hemlock and alder—covers the earth for miles. Several mills are in operation, and a new town, the City of Gray's Harbor, is being laid off at the railroad terminus. Seattle gentleman James McNaught recently bought 1,000 acres of land near Gray's Harbor for $1.25 an acre and sold it for $38,700, clearing almost $36,000 in about a month.
“The soil is the richest in the territory, producing very large crops of wheat, oats and barley. Vegetables and fruits grow to enormous size and in profuse abundance.”
This piece captures the frenzied real-estate speculation that defined Washington Territory in the 1880s. The 'City of Gray's Harbor' was a precursor to the modern Aberdeen/Hoquiam urban cluster, showing how speculative infrastructure bets fueled the development of the Pacific Northwest.
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