The Price of Development in 1878
A wave of land foreclosures hits King County as local settlers see their riverfront properties seized to satisfy debt.
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 20th day of February, A. D., 1878, I have levied upon the following land and premises situated in the county of King: Beginning at a post on the Duwamish River, running thence west, 17.15 chains; thence south 12.87 chains to the north bank of the Duwamish River; thence up stream following the meanders of said river to the northwest corner of the Miller-McGuire land; thence east 39.83 chains to the point of beginning, containing 49 60/100 acres of land. Now, therefore, notice is hereby given that on Monday, March 25th, 1878, 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 1878 legal notice reflects the volatile era of early property speculation in Seattle, where land along the Duwamish was frequently leveraged and lost. Today, the struggle for riverfront land has shifted from foreclosure auctions to complex debates over environmental restoration and industrial zoning in a city still reckoning with land value.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.