The Great Migration: A Boomtown at 800 People a Day
In 1889, Washington Territory experienced an unprecedented surge of arrivals, signaling the rapid transformation of Seattle and the surrounding region.
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.
Departures of immigrants westward from St. Paul average six hundred daily, most of them being ticketed for Washington territory. And this is only part of the incoming. From twenty to two hundred come into the territory daily by the Canadian Pacific, and the Union Pacific, the Southern Pacific and the steamship lines are pouring in steady streams of home seekers. At a low estimate, the territory is receiving new population at the rate of 800 per day. The new-comers are for the most part agriculturists. They find homes in every corner of the territory and are building up the country fully in proportion to the development of the towns. The people who come to the coast are an especially good class, due to the fact that it takes both enterprise and money to get here. Nearly all have more or less capital, a fact which accounts to a great extent for the heavy deposits in local banks everywhere. A well-known banker said yesterday that during the current year, Washington Territory would get in more money by direct importation by immigrants than from the sale of her products.
“At a low estimate, the territory is receiving new population at the rate of 800 per day.”
This 1889 report captures the raw energy of Seattle's early population explosion, where capital-rich settlers fueled a massive economic boom. Today, the city remains a destination for high-capital migration, though the anxiety has shifted from finding enough housing for the masses to managing the affordability crisis caused by that same continuous influx.
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