Railroad Fight Stalls Property Condemnation
Federal court continues land cases as Northern Pacific faces challenges over proposed track placement near Chambers Creek.
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.
Protests from the promoters of the Gillies projects, which are proposed to be located on Chambers Creek, against the plans of the Northern Pacific Railway for crossing this waterway near Steilacoom were made the excuse by attorneys for the railway this morning for asking Judge Hanford in federal court for the continuance of the condemnation cases. The cases were set over until May 5. Attorney Murray for the Hill lines stated that objections had been lodged with the war department against the plans of the company and that the matter was now in dispute and unsettled, necessitating a potential change in the company's entire plan for the water-level line along the shore. Attorneys Langhorne, Titlow, and Coiner, representing the Titlow and other interests along the Narrows, resisted the attempt to postpone, expressing frustration at being held up on their property by the threat of condemnation. Judge Hanford finally agreed to postpone the cases until May 5.
“They did not want to be held up on their property any longer by the threat of condemnation.”
Railroad expansion and its impact on shoreline access and property rights has been a recurring theme in Tacoma’s development. The struggle between the Northern Pacific (the 'Hill lines') and local landowners foreshadows the ongoing debates over industrial usage of the Narrows and the regulation of waterfront property.
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