The Price of Early Seattle Prosperity
A sheriff’s notice reveals the fragile nature of early real estate speculation in King County.
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.
By virtue of two several executions issued out of the District Court for the Third Judicial District of Washington Territory, holding terms at Seattle, in and for the counties of King and Kitsap. In the civil actions—First, Wherein Charles Hansen, J. W. Ackerson and W. P. Wallace, doing business under the firm name of Hansen, Ackerson & Co., are plaintiffs, and A. C. Campbell is defendant, for $399 in gold coin, interest, and costs. Second, Wherein A. S. Miller is plaintiff and A. C. Campbell is defendant, for $370 in gold coin, interest and costs. Now therefore, by virtue of said executions, I have levied upon the following described real property, to wit: Block sixty-one (61), containing eight lots in Terry’s First Addition in the city of Seattle, in King county, Washington Territory, and will sell all the right, title and interest of the said A. C. Campbell in the above described real estate, at public auction, on Monday, February 6, 1878, at 10 A. M., in front of the court house door, in the city of Seattle, King county, Washington Territory, to the highest bidder for cash, gold coin, or so much thereof as will satisfy said judgments, interest, costs and increased costs.
“I will sell all the right, title and interest of the said A. C. Campbell in the above described real estate, at public auction.”
This 1877 notice captures the high-stakes, volatile nature of Seattle's early land development, where even prominent investors could be wiped out by debt. It serves as a reminder that the city's current cycle of displacement and ownership battles is rooted in a long history of aggressive, debt-leveraged land speculation in the Pacific Northwest.
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