The Seattle Housing Boom of 1876
While miners chased gold in North Georgia, Seattle entrepreneurs were busy speculating on 'hard finish' homes in a rapidly developing frontier town.
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 Good Investment: For Sale at a Bargain. Two lots back of the Court House, with a well, bearing pear and fruit trees, and poultry buildings. There are two dwelling houses on these lots, built by the day, one story and a half high, hard finished and plastered, nice and tight. Apply to Eastwick, Morris & Co., Room No. 6, Burnett Building.
“There are two dwelling houses on these lots, built by the day, one story and a half high, hard finished and plastered, nice and tight.”
In 1876, Seattle was marketing 'hard-finished' homes as a premium feature of a stable, growing city. Today, the struggle has shifted from finding plaster-finished dwellings to navigating an extreme affordability crisis, yet the language of 'investments' and 'bargains' remains a permanent fixture of the Seattle real estate market.
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