The Cost of Regrading Seattle
Helen Scurry fights the city for $25,000, claiming the lowering of Third Street destroyed the value of her property.
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.
Mrs. Helen M. Scurry sued the city to recover $25,000 in damages for the lowering of the grade of Third Street. Mrs. Scurry is the owner of a brick and wooden building on the corner of James and Third streets. The plaintiff claims the building was built with reference to the existing grade of 1883, and the lowering of the street in 1890, in accordance with an ordinance of 1887, resulted in considerable expense and diminished her property value by $25,000. The city attorney moved for a non-suit, arguing she failed to show damage and that the statute of limitations had passed. Judge Osborn continued the case until Thursday to allow more authorities to be cited.
“the lowering of the street in the spring of 1890, in accordance with the terms of a city ordinance passed in 1887, resulted in considerable expense to her, and was diminishing her property fully $25,000 in value.”
The regrading of Seattle was a massive, decades-long project that literally reshaped the city's topography. Conflicts between individual property owners and the city's development machine defined the early civic landscape.
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