The Housing Squeeze of 1889
With not a single vacant house in town, developer W.H. Kneeland is rushing to build four new double tenements.
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.
W. H. Kneeland is preparing to build four double tenements on First street, opposite the grove. Each will be two stories and contain seven rooms. This is an enterprising move, and cannot but prove profitable, for there is not a vacant house in town. Even the parsonage has been rented to a lady, to occupy until a new preacher is sent here.
“This is an enterprising move, and cannot but prove profitable, for there is not a vacant house in town.”
Shelton's struggle with housing supply is not new; this 1889 report shows that even in the territory's infancy, the growth of the timber industry and the lack of residential construction created a 'zero vacancy' crisis that feels identical to contemporary housing shortages.
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