A Duwamish River Land Dispute
A suit filed in superior court reveals the tangled finances behind the development of the Duwamish 'Sanger Addition.'
J. E. Deamphe brought suit in the superior court yesterday against C. C. Coleman and his wife, F. E. Sanger, H. W. Crane, A. B. Hunt, and the A. P. Hotaling Company to foreclose a mortgage for $3,000 on a tract of land four and one-half miles south of the city, on the Duwamish river, containing forty-five acres. The complaint states that on April 30, 1891, Coleman and his wife gave their note to Robert Abrams, and to secure payment gave a mortgage on the land. On July 27, 1891, they sold the property to F. E. Sanger, who assumed the mortgage. The note has never been paid and but a small part of the interest, and the plaintiff wants judgment against Coleman and wife for the amount, plus attorney's fees. Sanger platted the land last January, and it is now known as the Sanger addition.
“Sanger platted the land last January, and it is now known as the Sanger addition.”
This dispute over a platted addition on the Duwamish highlights the rapid, often litigious nature of late 19th-century land speculation in Seattle. The transformation of riverfront acreage into 'additions' fueled the city's boom but left a trail of foreclosures and broken notes that defined property ownership for a generation.
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