A Frontier Real Estate Deal
A classic 1876 listing for a house and lot on 2nd Avenue, revealing the mid-development geography of early Seattle.
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.
FOR SALE. One House AND ONE LOT (60x120) FEET, LOCATED ON 2nd Street, between Seneca and University. Apply to R. J. MOORE. December 11, 1876.
“One House AND ONE LOT (60x120) FEET, LOCATED ON 2nd Street.”
This 1876 listing places a residential plot exactly where the high-rises of downtown Seattle now stand, between the modern financial and retail core. It captures a moment when '2nd Street' was a developing frontier rather than the paved, skyscraper-lined artery it is today, highlighting the rapid escalation of land value in the city's history.
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