The Town That Was Never Filed: A Buyer Sues Over Columbia's Missing Plat

An action was begun in the superior court yesterday that seems to throw doubt on the title of all the lots in Columbia. The reason set forward in the complaint is that the plat of the town of Columbia has never been filed for record with the county auditor, and that in reality there is no plat to be found.

The suit is entitled Robert Blackburn vs. the Washington Co-operative Home Company and the Columbia Home Company. Blackburn is endeavoring to recover damages for fraudulent representation in a real estate contract. He says that in June, 1891, the Washington Co-operative Home Company claimed to own in fee simple a lot in block 27, town of Columbia, and represented to him that a plat of the town had been recorded. Relying on the representations, he says he bought the lot, paying $10 earnest money, and afterward making payments aggregating $55 to the Washington Co-operative Home Company, to be applied on the purchase price.

About the time Blackburn had done this much toward paying for his lot, he says, the Washington Co-operative Home Company was succeeded by the Columbia Home Company, which had purchased the interest of the former company, and, as Blackburn alleges, fraudulently claimed the right to collect the balance due on the purchase price. In consequence, he says, he paid the balance due the company. After making the final payment it occurred to Blackburn that he would do well to look further into his title, and he thereby discovered that there was no plat of the town of Columbia on record in the county auditor's office. He has therefore sued both companies for damages.

All Seattle will recall the flourish and dash with which the town of Columbia was projected and at last created through the activity of Percy Rochester. The avenue car line was built, all the daily papers were filled with immense page advertisements announcing the birth of the town, and on the portentous day free excursions were run out to the site of the "future residence portion of Seattle." No matter where the eye was directed, it fell upon the legend "Columbia, watch it grow," and many people, taking it for granted that Columbia was to be a great place, made purchases of property. The scheme was for the purchaser to pay on the installment plan, and for the company to erect a neat residence, so that while a man paid for his house and lot he at the same time saved rent. It took only a short calculation to convince the average man anxious to get ahead in the world that in a year, two years or three years he would be the gainer of a home.

Everything went nicely until the stringency in the money market began. Columbia was affected about as soon as any undertaking in the vicinity of this city, and when the payments were stopped on the lots the company found itself without money to proceed. Finally the Washington Co-operative Company was displaced by the Columbia Home Company, organized by J. R. Rushton, and it went into the hands of a receiver at the same time as his Security Savings Bank.