The Last Harvest: A Snohomish Dairy Ranch for Sale
A departing farmer puts his well-established dairy operation on the market, offering a glimpse into the agricultural life of 1880s Snohomish.
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.
Wishing to return to the East, I offer for sale all my real and personal property in this county, consisting of a very fine ranch adjoining Snohomish City, of 80 acres. It has 40 acres of bottom land, the balance upland, and adjoining are 40 acres cleared, with excellent stock range. An average of over 50 head of cattle were kept on the place the past two years, 15 of which are milch cows. $200 worth of fruit is annually produced by the orchard on this place. The location is one of the best for a dairy ranch in this county. 50 tons of hay was cut on this place last year. I also offer for sale 170 acres of land at Snohomish, 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 pieces, I will sell my home and lot in Snohomish City. The house is well built, hard finished, and contains 7 rooms. For terms, apply to the undersigned at Snohomish City. - J. W. HAWKINS
“$200 worth of fruit is annually produced by the orchard on this place.”
This advertisement captures a pivotal moment when Snohomish was shifting from a collection of homesteads to a developing commercial center. Today, the struggle to preserve agricultural land against residential and commercial development remains a core tension in Snohomish County's land-use debates.
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