The Duwamish Valley's Early Land Rush
While Seattle’s real estate market was heating up in 1889, developer W.W. Belvin was marketing 'three-acre tracts' in the Duwamish River Valley, promising proximity to town and fertile soil.
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.
Three-acre tracts for sale. Best vegetable soil in the whole King county. Two-thirds bottom land, one-third red, it is at Floraville Farms, Duwamish River Valley. Two miles south of race track. Building front: River front! Cheap water route! Excellent soil! Fine good road to town! Three acres for $1,000. Inquire at 15 Money Building, Front and Columbia Streets.
“Three acres for $1,000. Excellent soil! Fine good road to town!”
In 1889, the Duwamish Valley was advertised as a rustic agricultural paradise on the edge of the city. Today, that same geography—transformed by the industrialization of the river and the growth of the Port of Seattle—represents the front line of environmental justice, housing, and industrial land-use conflicts.
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