The City vs. The Railroad
Yakima taxpayers push for the extension of major streets through Northern Pacific property, setting the stage for a legal showdown.
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.
An adjourned meeting of the city council was held in the council chambers Tuesday evening. A petition, which had been signed by about 200 taxpayers, asking for the opening of Yakima avenue, Chestnut and A streets, through the depot and railroad trackage property of the Northern Pacific, was read and granted. The city attorney was ordered to go ahead and take the necessary steps for the condemnation of the right-of-way for the said streets, and to consult with Judge George Turner, who had been retained by the property holders in case that the railroad people entered upon any legal contest. Judge Turner, after investigating the points pro and con, gave it as his opinion that there were no legal grounds why the property should not be condemned and opened as public highways.
“There were no legal grounds why the property should not be condemned and opened as public highways.”
The conflict between municipal development and private railroad infrastructure is a foundational struggle in Washington history. Yakima's current efforts to manage rail-crossing congestion and land use echo these late-19th-century fights over grid connectivity.
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