Same Streets
← All stories

The Promised Land on the Sound

A speculative real estate pitch from 1880s Snohomish invites settlers to a 'colony' on the river, promising prime marshland and a booming industrial future.

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 best opportunity ever offered for a home on easy terms that will soon be very valuable. The property is divided into twenty-acre tracts of about nine feet elevation, extending from the river to the Sound in deep water and convenient land for any trade. First-class title on the place. Five of these fine settlements already sold. Credit will be extended as low interest to those unable to pay cash down. Also desirable property on the Sound for sale or lease on reasonable terms for wharves, warehouses, factories, etc. There is no equal to this by any other place on the Sound for fishing, milling, ship-building or manufacturing purposes. All line steamers down the Sound in Snohomish, Whatcom and Island Counties stop there going and returning. It is also on the direct route of all steamers up the Sound. There is also an excellent location for a flouring mill or warehouse to which can be shipped the products of Snohomish, Whatcom and Island Counties in deep water vessels. On these premises will also be established a trade of thirty or forty acres in all, thus affording those purchasing homes a chance to secure stock if they so desire. In addition to the above, will be sold 320 acres of the finest marsh land in the territory, known as the Hartley Ranch, with 20 acres of upland. This is only four miles from Snohomish City. Grande Marsh, well drained, not subject to overflow, soil extra fertile, dry and nearly ready for the plow. There is a wagon road to the premises, and products can be taken by this route or by boats from the premises to market. The best chance ever offered in the territory to secure a fine farm.

“The best opportunity ever offered for a home on easy terms that will soon be very valuable.”

— Printed in The Northern Star (Snohomish City, W.T. [Wash.]) 1876-1879, 1878
Then · 1878148 years apartNow · 2026

This ad captures the relentless, early-stage optimism of Pacific Northwest land speculation, framing wetlands as 'prime' development opportunities. It highlights a tension that remains in Snohomish County today: the constant push to convert wild or agricultural river-adjacent land into industrial or residential 'colonies' for a growing population.

The original page

The Northern Star (Snohomish City, W.T. [Wash.]) 1876-1879, 1878-09-21. Library of Congress, Chronicling America.

From readers

No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.

About this story

From
The Northern Star (Snohomish City, W.T. [Wash.]) 1876-1879, SEP 21, 1878, Page 3
Rights
Public domain
Place
48.00747, -121.73049 · placed automatically
The paper in the Library of Congress catalog ↗