The Seattle Brick Yard Hustle of 1876
As Seattle began its transformation into a permanent industrial center, local entrepreneurs rushed to secure supplies for the inevitable building boom.
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.
An advertisement in the Seattle paper announced that C. McAllister had leased a brick yard for a term of four years. The notice said the lease was taken with the intention of supplying the demand at reduced rates.
The advertisement added that McAllister would be prepared to furnish orders, and it was dated Seattle, March 1876. The page gives no further account of the brick yard or the terms of the lease.
“I have leased the Brick Yard... with the view of supplying the demand at reduced rates.”
C. McAllister’s 1876 announcement captures the exact moment Seattle transitioned from a frontier outpost to a growing city hungry for construction materials. Just as his four-year lease aimed to stabilize supply for a developing region, contemporary Seattle remains locked in an endless cycle of construction, where the volatility of material costs and land control continues to define the city’s economic landscape.
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