Wood & Osborne Bring Order to Washington Territory Deeds
As Seattle's property market surged, the city's premier title firm was forced to expand its operations to keep up with the frantic pace of land speculation.
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There is no safer index to the actual attractions and investments in real estate than the business of the abstract offices. Mr. Eben H. Osborne, the founder and compiler of the firm's excellent set of abstract records, associated with himself Judge Wm. D. Wood. The demands of their business have grown so that from the service of one proprietor and one assistant, the services of two proprietors and seven skilled assistants are now scarcely sufficient to keep up with their orders for abstracts. Wood & Osborne have also this year compiled a valuable set of records, which have not before been in existence in any county in Washington Territory: a complete abstract of all tax sales made in the county or city to date, indexed to the tract or lots by descriptions. The tax records of the city and county are so imperfect, scattered and incomplete that no investor nor even attorney or title-searcher can make a tax search from the tax rolls alone and be sure he has all sales of assessments on any certain piece of property. Wood & Osborne have during the past year been compelled to enlarge their office quarters, to add to their fire-proof vaults for protection of accumulating records and to increase their clerical force.
“The tax records of the city and county are so imperfect, scattered and incomplete that no investor nor even attorney or title-searcher can make a tax search from the tax rolls alone.”
The frantic scramble to document land titles and clear 'clouds' on property in 1889 mirrors today's intense focus on property development and title integrity in a high-value real estate market. Just as Wood & Osborne commodified the history of land ownership, modern firms continue to profit from the complex, archival nature of Seattle's evolving urban landscape.
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