The Unfinished House on the River
A rare glimpse into the local property market of territorial-era Snohomish, featuring a 'hard-finished' home and a mill site primed for industry.
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.
The undersigned offers for sale that valuable piece of property known as the 'Royal Hasking Place,' situated on the Snohomish River, a few miles above the town of Snohomish. The area contains 160 acres of excellent land, of which 40 acres are cleared and in a high state of cultivation. There is an orchard on this place, and the location is one of the best for dairying in this vicinity. No damage was done to this farm by the high water last year. I also offer for sale 170 acres of land at Gold Bar, near the forks of the river, with a valuable mill privilege and a building for a mill ready to put in the machinery. Besides these two valuable pieces, I will sell a house and lot in Snohomish City. The house is well built, hard-finished, and contains one and one-half stories with large and commodious rooms. For terms, apply to the undersigned at Snohomish City.
“The house is well built, hard-finished, and contains one and one-half stories with large and commodious rooms.”
This 19th-century real estate listing highlights the dual appeal of Snohomish—its agricultural potential and its role as an industrial hub for milling—that continues to shape the region's development. It reflects a time when riverside land was both a precious commodity and a gamble against the seasonal flooding of the Snohomish River.
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