The Making of a Suburb
A speculative land development project christened 'Sunnyside' promises a model residential section and a dedicated site for a state capital.
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.
Dozens of laborers are busily engaged in clearing the brush from Howard H. Lewis’ new acquisition of 270 acres, which has been christened “Sunnyside.” Mr. Lewis has made arrangements to transform this vast tract into a garden of beauty. One hundred and fifty will be platted in lots and the balance in five-acre garden tracts. Streets will be laid out, irrigating ditches dug, and a large number of shade trees planted; in fact, Mr. Lewis will do everything to make this new suburb of Yakima a most desirable residence section. Four blocks will be reserved as a capital site and will be donated to the new state for that purpose, and land is also to be laid out and beautified for a public park.
“Mr. Lewis will do everything to make this new suburb of Yakima a most desirable residence section.”
The boosterism of 1889—promising parks and capital sites to drive up real estate value—is a recognizable ancestor to the planned communities and suburban expansions still common in the Yakima Valley today. This snippet captures the 'growth machine' in its infancy, where the dream of a new state capital was used as a primary marketing tool for residential development.
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