The Gentrification of North Seattle: A 1889 Land Grab
Capitalists from Nebraska descend on the growing city, clearing forty acres on the Queen Anne plateau to turn wilderness into a 'fine addition' for profit.
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.
Messrs. J.L. Evans and E. Blewett, the well-known capitalists from Fremont, Nebraska, who are already largely interested in Seattle realty, will soon place upon the market another fine addition to the city of Seattle, they having bought the forty acres in North Seattle known as the Davidson tract. The whole 40 acres is being cleared, platted, and transformed into one of the finest additions to the city as fast as money and muscles can do it. Lying as it does on the top of the plateau, on the very brow of the hill, this addition has a double advantage: the magnificent view of the grand waters of the Sound and the surrounding additions below, and the lots at the same time being perfectly level, requiring no grading whatever. The extension of the Front Street cable road will run close by. The avenues and streets are 75 feet wide and will conform with the adjoining additions. The size of the lots will be 30x120 feet, with 16-foot alleys, and the first few lots will be placed on the market at the very low price of $100 each for inside lots and $350 for corners. Terms: one-third cash, one-third three months, one-third six months, at 10 percent interest.
“The whole 40 acres is being cleared, platted, and transformed into one of the finest additions to the city as fast as money and muscles can do it.”
This 1889 advertisement for the 'Davidson tract' mirrors contemporary Seattle's recurring cycle of developers purchasing land, clearing it for profit, and marketing it as a 'choice' location. The promise of transit access (the cable car) fueling property value remains a core tenet of Seattle's ongoing urban development debates.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.