The Forgotten Fruit Orchard of Early Seattle
A glimpse into 1877 horticulture as one of the city's early nurserymen promises the perfect peach for the Puget Sound climate.
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.
SEATTLE NURSERY. One mile from Yesler’s Wharf on the road to Lake Washington. Boats steam past the nursery twice a day. Fruit trees, shrubbery, and herbaceous plants and several choice varieties of peaches that are adapted to this climate and ripen early. C. Lawton, Proprietor.
“Several choice varieties of peaches that are adapted to this climate and ripen early.”
In 1877, Seattle was a frontier town defined by lumber, yet residents were already experimenting with urban agriculture and specialized gardening. Today, the walk from the downtown waterfront to the Lake Washington shoreline is a dense urban corridor, but the city's persistent 'Green City' ethos and the recent surge in urban gardening reflect that same 19th-century desire to cultivate a livable, productive landscape.
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