The Ghost of Grays Harbor City
Speculators learn the hard way as a subsidized townsite dies on the vine.
Another townsite has been 'laid out'—for the grave. We refer to Grays Harbor City. Its subsidized newspaper has suspended publication. Throughout the East are capitalists who invested money in these lots cursing the State of Washington and declaring that its bottom has fallen out. Thus does the evil that wildcat townsites do live after them.
“Thus does the evil that wildcat townsites do live after them.”
Then · 1891135 years apartNow · 2026
This reflects the volatile 'boom and bust' cycle of the 1890s in Grays Harbor, where many paper towns were promoted to wealthy eastern investors. It serves as a reminder that land speculation has always been a high-stakes gamble in Washington history.
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