The Great Spokane Title Crisis
A landmark Supreme Court ruling has suddenly rendered thousands of property deeds void, threatening the downtown core of Spokane.
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.
Title to some of the most valuable property in Spokane as well as in every city and town along the line of the Northern Pacific, has been clouded by the decision of the supreme court of the United States, that the Northern Pacific, under its congressional grant, is entitled to a right of way full 400 feet wide, and that the railroad can not sell any land within this strip. In Spokane thousands of dollars worth of such lands have been sold by the railroad, and all these deeds are held void by this decision. Attorneys and railroad men declare that the decision affects title to part of the Hotel Spokane, the Pacific Hotel, the Spokane Theater, and all the other buildings which lie within 200 feet on each side of the center line of the Northern Pacific through this city. The same condition exists everywhere along the line of the road, as it has been a custom of the road to sell parts of its unused right of way to private individuals to encourage the erection of warehouses and manufactories.
“The highest court says all these deeds are void.”
This 1903 legal crisis highlights the lasting power of federal railroad land grants, which continue to complicate development and land rights in many Pacific Northwest cities. It is a stark reminder of how historical 'right of way' claims can suddenly threaten the stability of modern urban property owners.
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