A Sudden Investment in the City's Heart
A New York traveler arrives in North Yakima and, impressed by the town's potential, immediately sinks $8,800 into prime real estate.
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.
Mr. I. N. Terry, of New Hartford, New York, stopped off at North Yakima this week. He knew nothing of this place, but was told on the train that it had a good future; so he switched off, and was so well pleased with the town and country that he had been here but a short time when he bought the Joseph Fairbrook property on the corner of Yakima Avenue and First Street for $8,800 cash, and two residence lots on First Street, this side of Colonel Prosser’s. Mr. Terry is not buying for speculative purposes, but for permanent investment, and proposes to improve his holdings. He has not decided whether to put up a store and office building on his avenue property or a hotel, and should he decide upon the latter Mr. Steiner has signified his desire to become the lessee.
“He knew nothing of this place, but was told on the train that it had a good future; so he switched off.”
The practice of land speculators arriving by rail to snap up downtown corners defines the history of Yakima's development. This account mirrors modern concerns about out-of-state capital shaping the character and affordability of local business districts.
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