The Gold Rush Under Your Feet
A sewer excavation in a fashionable Spokane district unearths gold-bearing ore worth $2,000 a ton.
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.
Discovery of gold-bearing ore by city workmen while excavating for a sewer has caused a great sensation in the fashionable residence district of Spokane. An assay made of the ore shows over $2,000 in gold to the ton and nearly $200 in silver. Talk of sinking shafts in the lawns of adjacent residence lots is rife. A stock company is being formed to work whatever ground can be leased.
“Talk of sinking shafts in the lawns of adjacent residence lots is rife.”
Spokane has a long history of mining speculation, but this story captures the height of early 20th-century boom-town fever, where urban infrastructure projects frequently collided with extraction dreams. It remains a classic example of the 'growth machine' mentality that defined Washington's urban development.
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