Squabbling Over the City's Edge
A land dispute settled in Olympia signals the future value of acreage just outside the Seattle city limits.
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.
A. C. McFarland, Commissioner of the General Land Office, has rejected the timber claim of J. H. Houghton and allowed the homestead claim of J. M. Junett to the land to remain intact. The case was appealed from the Olympia Land Office by Mr. Junett, with the result above stated. The land in question is about one mile from the city line on the railroad, and in time will be very valuable.
“The land in question is about one mile from the city line on the railroad, and in time will be very valuable.”
This reflects the intense land speculation and legal battles that defined Seattle's expansion. Even in 1884, the paper recognized that land just a mile outside the city was a strategic 'valuable' asset, a sentiment that drives Seattle's massive real estate market today.
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