The Price of Seattle's Expansion: A Sheriff's Sale
Legal notices from 1878 reveal a community grappling with debt, foreclosures, and the relentless churn of land ownership in the rapidly developing territory of Washington.
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 an order of sale issued out of the District Court of the Third Judicial District of Washington Territory, holding terms at the City of Seattle, in King County, on the 18th day of February, A. D., 1878, in the case of D. S. Maynard, James Crawford and Wm. A. Harrington, partners, doing business under the firm name of Crawford & Harrington, are plaintiffs, and Thomas J. Jackson and H. Jackson, his wife, Wm. Thornton, James Scott and Andrew Moore are defendants. I have levied upon the property described in said decree to satisfy the following judgments: All of lot number two (2) in block numbered twenty-four (24) in that part of the City of Seattle laid off and platted by A. A. Denny, and known as A. A. Denny’s Addition to Seattle. And now, by virtue of said decree and order of sale, on Monday, the 6th day of May, A. D., 1878, at the hour of 10 A. M., in front of the Court House door in said City of Seattle, I will sell to the highest bidder therefore, for cash, gold coin, all the right, title, interest and equity of redemption of said defendants in and to the above described property.
“I will sell to the highest bidder therefore, for cash, gold coin, all the right, title, interest and equity of redemption.”
This legal notice from 1878 mirrors the modern reality of Seattle’s housing market, where land ownership is often subject to the volatility of debt and foreclosure. Just as developers like A.A. Denny shaped the city's early geography, current residents continue to navigate a landscape where property is treated primarily as a financial instrument, often leaving long-term inhabitants vulnerable to the mechanics of the market.
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