The Price of a Right of Way
Aberdeen negotiates for a rail line, but land prices and local skepticism hold the project hostage.
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.
The Northern Pacific railroad says it has never built into a town where it has not been given the right of way, and that it will never build into Aberdeen on the north side unless it is given the right of way. Mr. West says his best terms for a right of way over his property is $15,000 cash, for a 30-foot right of way. These terms are so impossible as not to be worth discussing. The property to be damaged is Mr. West's property, and Mr. West has the unquestioned right to put his own price thereon. It is to be regretted, however, that the price is not within our reach. The only alternative left us is to have the N. P. condemn their own right of way, giving them of what we all have an abundance, land sufficient to reimburse them for all their expenses in the matter. This we can and should do, if we want the railroad. This we will never do, unless there are substantial additions to the present subscription list.
“The Northern Pacific railroad says it has never built into a town where it has not been given the right of way.”
Railroad expansion was the lifeblood of 1890s Aberdeen, and public frustration with private landholders blocking development remains a recurring tension in urban growth and infrastructure projects today.
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