Farmland Near Garfield Doubles in Two Years as Newcomers Pay Cash
A railway sells 9,600 acres in Adams County outright, and Whitman County farms that went begging at $15 an acre now bring $25 to $30 — bought to work, the paper insists, not to speculate on.
One of the significant signs of the improvement in this state is the marked advance in the price of farm lands, caused by the active demand from new comers. Lands near Garfield, which, less than two years ago, could have been bought for $15 per acre, are now selling at $25 and $30, and not for speculation, but for actual use. Lands that will pay for themselves the first crop year are beginning to be appreciated. — Tacoma Ledger.
Demands for agricultural land in Eastern Washington are very heavy. The railway company recently sold 9,600 acres of its lands in Adams County alone, receiving cash for the larger portion. Near Garfield, in Whitman County, large farms have been sold at $25 cash per acre last week which would not have brought $15 per acre two years ago.
“Lands near Garfield, which, less than two years ago, could have been bought for $15 per acre, are now selling at $25 and $30, and not for speculation, but for actual use.”
A century and a half later the same arithmetic still drives Eastern Washington: outside money, cash offers and newcomers resetting the price of ground that the people already working it can no longer afford. The railway selling its grant lands by the thousands of acres was the original land rush; the Yakima Valley's orchards, subdivisions and warehouse sprawl are the later chapters of the same story.
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