Wenatchee Residents Clash with Development Company
Town residents are resisting a development company's attempt to force the relocation of the town center to a less desirable site.
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.
Eugene C. Stahl, of Wenatchee, is stopping at the Grand Hotel. Last night he said: 'There is something of a fight between the people of Wenatchee and the Wenatchee Development Company. Some four years ago a company, in which the late Morris Haller was a stockholder, was formed and bought up 7,000 acres of land at Wenatchee. The company platted only fifteen acres, and gave solemn assurance to those who bought lots there that the part platted was to be the center of the town. The spot was beautiful and level and a good place for the town. Well, a year or so ago this Wenatchee Development Company, which is practically the same concern as the original concern, was organized, and got hold of 700 acres more further to the south. Now, in order to bring the town in the middle of its tract, the Development Company is trying to move the people three-quarters of a mile south. Naturally the people who have bought in the north end and have built there are vigorously objecting, for the south end is not nearly so good a site for a town. The Development Company has given it out that the town has actually moved. Such is not the case, for but two real estate offices and one lawyer's office have gone to the south end. There will be a lively contest before the matter is settled.'
“The Development Company is trying to move the people three-quarters of a mile south. Naturally the people who have bought in the north end and have built there are vigorously objecting.”
This struggle over 'townsite' placement and the power of private developers to disrupt established neighborhoods prefigures modern gentrification and zoning battles in Seattle, where the needs of residents often clash with the profit motives of developers.
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