A Disputed Legacy: The Lost Land of James O. Libby
After the passing of James O. Libby, his administrator moved to auction off over 120 acres of land in King County to settle his estate.
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.
Valuable Land for Sale: On Saturday, December 18th, at one o'clock P.M., in front of Harvey & Barber's store, corner of Commercial and Mill streets, in the city of Seattle, I will sell at public auction to the highest bidder the following described property belonging to the estate of James O. Libby, viz: The southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section twenty-nine and the west half of the northeast quarter of section no. thirty-two, Township No. 24 north, of Range No. 2 east, containing one hundred and twenty acres. Terms: Cash in U.S. gold coin on day of sale. A. Atkins, Administrator of the estate of James O. Libby, deceased.
“Terms: Cash in U.S. gold coin on day of sale.”
This 1875 notice highlights the transactional reality of Seattle's early expansion, where vast swaths of land were auctioned off as simple commodities. Today, those same sections of land in King County have been transformed into complex urban landscapes where the 'cash in hand' requirement for property has evolved into a massive, multi-generational barrier to housing equity.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.