The 1876 Land Hustle
A classic real estate promotion from the era offers a 'buy one, get one' incentive to settlers willing to build homes in early Seattle.
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.
A LOT FOR NOTHING! IN D. T. DESSY'S ADDITION TO THE CITY OF SEATTLE. Every man who has a family and buys a lot and erects a dwelling thereon will receive one lot for TWO LOTS. Price of Lots, $50 Each.
“Every man who has a family and buys a lot and erects a dwelling thereon will receive one lot for TWO LOTS.”
Long before Seattle became a battleground for density and high-rise development, developers like D.T. Dessy were using cut-rate, incentivized land sales to lure families into expanding the city's residential footprint. The aggressive marketing of 'lots for nothing' echoes today’s incentives for affordable housing, though the $50 price tag is a stark reminder of how dramatically land value has shifted in the Puget Sound basin.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.