Massive Waterfront Real Estate Transfer
Nearly 650 acres of land, including parts of the tide flats and Brown's Point, are transferred to private hands.
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.
Deeds were placed on record today transferring to George R. Taylor about 650 acres of Indian land. Some of the land is located near one of the tide-flat tracts supposed to have been purchased for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. Other tracts are on the waterfront across the bay, and one piece includes the end of Brown's point except a small area reserved by the government for lighthouse purposes. All of this land is what real estate men call 'good stuff.' Mr. Taylor has not stated what he wants the land for, but it is presumably purchased for an investment.
“All of this land is what real estate men call 'good stuff.'”
This transaction highlights the era's aggressive land speculation and the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous lands, which defined the development of the Port of Tacoma. The concentration of waterfront property into private investment vehicles remains a point of intense civic debate in modern urban planning.
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