The Promised Land of Hayview
A new town platted on Padilla Bay promises a boom in lumber, and land-seekers are urged to stake their claims.
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.
The new town of Hayview has been platted and the plat filed with the Auditor at La Conner. The lots are sixty feet front by one hundred and ten feet deep; the streets are sixty feet wide and alleys twenty feet. This town fronts on Padilla Bay. It is unquestionably a beautiful location, and, being in the center of the new county, will certainly become a lively place. It is the natural outlet for at least one hundred and fifty million feet of lumber; or, in other words, it is the outlet for about all the lumber between here and the Olympia Marsh. It is also the natural outlet to the Marsh, and here let me say that newcomers would do well to visit and inspect the Olympia Marsh before looking elsewhere. Many have filed but made no improvements, thereby leaving their claims liable to be jumped. Any one wishing to visit the Marsh should take the steamer at Seattle and come to La Conner, the fare costing only fifty cents. From La Conner they should come to Hayview, to which they can either walk or go by stage on Monday and Thursday; from here the nearest trail goes into the Marsh. We should have here a good, serviceable mill, and men who handle machinery would do well to give us a visit. Poor men with families would do well to locate here, the prices of lots being at the low figures of $40 and $50 each.
“It is unquestionably a beautiful location, and, being in the center of the new county, will certainly become a lively place.”
In 1884, boosters sold dreams of new mill towns as the key to economic success in the Skagit Valley. Today, while 'Hayview' has vanished from the map, the cycle of real estate speculation continues to drive regional development in the Pacific Northwest.
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