The Great Railway Monopoly Struggle of 1877
An editorial from the Seattle Weekly Dispatch reveals the town's early, bitter fight against the Northern Pacific Railroad's land-grabbing tactics.
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.
There is a constant effort made by the organs of the managers of the Northern Pacific Railroad to make it appear that Seattle is hostile to the railroad from envy and jealousy solely. It is not true that Seattle is hostile to any improvement calculated to benefit any section of the Territory. The opposition of Seattle is not to the railroad, but to its management. The fact that Tacoma—reported by the authorized agents of the company as destitute of the advantages necessary for a commercial city, over Seattle, which is conceded by all to be the most available point on Puget Sound—was selected as the terminus is proof of the faithlessness of the company to their trust.
The original survey, upon which the land grant was based, was from Superior Bay to Elliott Bay. Instead of carrying out this plan, the managers, for purposes of their own, have extended the line over 300 miles. They have expended not less than $4,000,000 upon this coast without advancing the construction a mile towards the point originally designated. Had that money been expended in building the road from Seattle towards the eastern terminus, Seattle would today have a population of not less than 25,000 inhabitants. All these advantages were sacrificed to the supposed interests of a ring of speculators in town lots, composed exclusively of the managers of the railroad company. For eight years this Territory has suffered under this terrible incubus without a single compensating advantage. Immigrants have sought homes here by the thousand, and we have had no homes to offer them not hampered by a heartless, soulless, monopoly.
“For eight years this Territory has suffered under this terrible incubus without a single compensating advantage.”
This 1877 editorial highlights the classic Seattle-vs-Tacoma rivalry and the city's long-standing frustration with corporate land-use decisions. It echoes modern debates over how concentrated corporate power and speculative land ownership can stifle regional growth and housing accessibility.
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