1878 Sheriff’s Sale Lists King County Land
A 1878 legal notice reveals a forced property sale near the Duwamish River, capturing the raw reality of early Seattle’s land-based economy.
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, holding terms at Seattle, in King county, for the counties of King and Kitsap, in the civil action of D. Rice Campbell, plaintiff, against William H. Snyder and Martha J. Snyder, his wife, and John W. Maples, defendants, duly attested this 20th day of February, A. D. 1878, I have levied upon the following land and premises situated in the said 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 Mckinger’s land on the right bank of said river, thence east 39.83 chains, thence north 23 deg. west 7.56 chains, thence west 4.53 chains, thence north 2.62 chains, thence west 33.30 chains to the point of beginning, containing 48 64/100 acres of land. 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 notice reflects the brutal speed of land loss in the late 19th century, where families lost acreage to debt auctions at the courthouse. Today, these same riverfront areas are the focus of complex environmental remediation and urban development, yet the fundamental struggle for land tenure remains a defining feature of the region.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.