The Pioneer’s Exit: A Snohomish Farmstead on the Market
A rare glimpse into the local land economy of 1880s Snohomish as a settler prepares to move on, offering a fully operational dairy ranch for sale.
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.
I offer for sale all my real and personal property in this county, including a large dairy ranch adjoining Snohomish City. The farm contains some improved land, the balance upland adjoining, and excellent stock range. Average of over 40 head of cattle on the place the past two years, 35 now there, of which 14 are milch cows. $200 worth of fruit is annually produced by the fine orchard on this place. The location is one of the best for a dairy ranch in this county. 80 tons of hay was cut on this place last year. I also offer for sale 170 acres of land at Qualco, near the forks of the river, with a valuable mill privilege and building for a mill ready to put in the machinery. Besides these two valuable places, I will sell one house and lot in Snohomish City. The house is well built, hard finished, one and one-half stories high and contains 7 rooms. For terms, apply to the undersigned at Snohomish City. - Royal Bashford.
“The location is one of the best for a dairy ranch in this county.”
This 1880s advertisement captures the classic Snohomish transition from wild frontier to productive agricultural land. Today’s housing market bears a similar intensity, though the 'valuable mill privileges' and dairy pastures have long since been subdivided into the residential blocks that define the modern Snohomish landscape.
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