The Seattle Land Rush of 1889
A weekly log of deeds and transactions reveals the frenzied pace of development, speculation, and shifting property lines in pre-statehood Seattle.
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 real estate market during the past week has been particularly active. Dealings in property have been numerous and large, and the demand has been steady. There is active inquiry for all sorts of realty; the slight depression that naturally followed the very active month of March has disappeared. Transactions for the week were as follows: 87 deeds recorded with an aggregate value of $159,446.80.
“There is active inquiry for all sorts of realty; the slight depression that naturally followed the very active month of March has disappeared.”
This 1889 report captures the raw, speculative energy of a city transforming from a frontier town into a booming metropolis. The list of names—Denny, Yesler, Burke, McGilvra—are the street and neighborhood namesakes that still define Seattle's geography, serving as a reminder that the city's housing market has been a high-stakes, developer-driven engine since its inception.
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