The Price of Industrial Expansion: A Sheriff's Sale on the Duwamish
In 1878, a court-ordered auction of land near the Duwamish River revealed the high-stakes debt and legal entanglements defining early Seattle development.
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 a decree and order of sale issued out of the District Court of the Third Judicial District of Washington Territory, in the civil action of J. Rice Campbell, plaintiff, against William H. Snyder and Martha J. Snyder, his wife, and John W. Kaples, defendants, I have levied upon the following land and premises situated in the county of King. Beginning at a post which bears north 11 chains, west 25 chains, and north 9.92 chains from the quarter section corner on the north and south line between sections 3 and 4 in township 23 north of range 4 east, and running thence west 17.91 chains, thence south 12.09 chains to the north and right bank of the Duwamish River, thence up stream following the meanders of said river to a white fir tree 60 inches in diameter, standing at the northwest corner of Sidney McCarger’s land on the right bank of said river, thence east 39.83 chains, thence north 23 degrees west 7.56 chains, thence west 4.53 chains, thence north 2.62 chains, thence west 33.30 chains to the point at beginning, containing 48.66 acres of land, all in King county. Notice is hereby given that on Monday, March 25th, 1878, at the hour of 11 o’clock A.M. at the court house door in the city of Seattle, I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, gold coin, the above described lands and premises.
“I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash, gold coin, the above described lands and premises.”
This legal notice illustrates the precarious nature of land ownership during Seattle's foundational years, where debt-fueled speculation often ended on the courthouse steps. The specific mention of the Duwamish River as a boundary highlights how the city’s industrial geography was being carved out through court-mandated asset liquidation.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.