The Great Richland Land Shuffle
A complex, multi-state real estate trade involving land in Idaho, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Hanford reshuffles several prominent residents.
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.
Frank Petsel, caught in a 'moving spirit,' traded his six-acre property adjoining Richland, which features a fine concrete house, for 80 acres in Boise county, Idaho, 100 acres of wheat land in North Dakota, 80 acres of timber in northern Minnesota, and a city lot in Hanford. The trade involved M. C. Poindexter, who will move onto the property vacated by Petsel. Additionally, C. S. Gibbs will vacate the old Peterson home to move onto the A. C. Lawrey place. All parties are scrambling to move within ten days, leading to concerns that even the rural mail carriers will struggle to keep track of their addresses.
“It’s a good thing these people get their mail in town as it is doubtful that any of Uncle Sam’s rural route men could keep track of them.”
This land trade illustrates the highly speculative and mobile nature of real estate in the Columbia Basin during the 1910s. Residents were treating acreage like currency, trading across state lines with a fluidity that mirrors modern investment strategies.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.