1878 Seattle Grapples With Nationwide Money Shortage
While 1878 brought economic panic across the nation, Seattleites rejected the idea that their town was failing, pointing to local grit and coal-laden wharves as the true engines of progress.
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 great complaint at the present time from every quarter of hard times and the scarcity of money. Some of our citizens believe that this complaint is peculiar to Seattle, and are inclined to think that the bottom is falling out. There can be no greater mistake. The complaint of scarcity of money has for the past year or two extended throughout the land. There is not a section, city, village or hamlet throughout our broad land but has felt its pressure. In all the great commercial centres of the East, property values have diminished from one-third to one-half, and there is no immediate prospect of improvement. The same is true of most of the towns upon the Pacific coast, none less than Seattle. The reason of the scarcity of money here and the high rates of interest are not on account of any failure of our home resources, any want of enterprise, or any diminished demand for the fruits of industry, but because of the universal panic having dried up the currents of supplies from other quarters. Our town has steadily progressed throughout the great pressure and has all the elements of prosperity requisite for the making of a large and prosperous city; but from the beginning our people have had to depend entirely upon their own exertions. No money has been brought here for investment. What capital there is here was made here by men who commenced with nothing more than strong hands and well-balanced heads. With twenty miles of railroad delivering 500 tons of coal at our wharves daily and a commerce employing more tonnage than any other town north of San Francisco, who can see in our surroundings anything upon which to predict future decay? Our upward and onward course is already assured.
“Our town has steadily progressed throughout the great pressure and has all the elements of prosperity requisite for the making of a large and prosperous city.”
This 1878 editorial reflects an enduring Seattle narrative: the city’s belief in its own inevitable growth during economic downturns, fueled by regional resources and a 'self-made' ethos. Much like today, the anxiety of external capital drying up—and the fear of relying on outside investment—remains a central tension in the city's relationship with its rapid development.
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