The Real Estate Hunt of 1876
A modest listing for a home between Seneca and University hints at the rapid transformation of early Seattle real 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.
H. A. Atkins, administrator of the estate of James A. Libbey, announced a public auction in Seattle, with the notice dated Dec. 3, 1876. The sale was to be made in front of a building at the corner of Commercial and Mill streets to the highest bidder, with terms cash in U.S. gold coin on the day of sale; the legal description named sections, township, and range.
Other notices offered a house and a 60-by-120-foot lot on a street between Seneca and University, through R. J. Moore, and two hard-finished two-story dwellings and lots at Third and Lake streets, plus fourteen lots in Law’s Addition and three more lots, through Thomas J. Jackson. A. Mackintosh advertised as a notary public and conveyancer, real estate and tax agent, with abstracts of title to all lands in King County.
“One House! AND ONE LOT 60X120 FEET located on 3rd Street, between Seneca and University.”
This 1876 listing for a lot and house on 3rd Avenue near Seneca—now in the heart of the high-rise downtown core—illustrates the century-long acceleration of Seattle land values. What was then a residential quarter is now a dense urban hub, reflecting the evolution from a frontier town to a major metropolitan center.
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