The Real Estate Boom of 1888
A look at the frenetic land speculation and building sales in Seattle, as recorded by the city's abstractors during the week of May 1st, 1888.
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 total in real estate for the year, from January 1, 1888, to date, amounts to $2,362,800. Transfers during the past week have been of a very good average. That they are largely for outside property, however, is respectable and an excellent indication of the confidence felt in the future of the city. Notable transactions during the week include P. J. Perry to W. J. Parkinson for a tract at $25,750; J. A. Billa to K. G. Faegre for lots in Faegre’s Addition to West Seattle at $2,000; and F. K. Sanders to P. H. Ward for lots in Yesler’s Second Supplemental Addition. Additionally, the West Seattle Land and Improvement Company continues to move heavy inventory, with multiple lots sold to E. D. Davies and C. Bowman, signaling the rapid development of the city’s burgeoning districts.
“That they are largely for outside property, however, is respectable and an excellent indication of the confidence felt in the future of the city.”
This 1888 record reflects the exact moment Seattle transitioned from a frontier town to an urban center. Today’s headlines about land speculation, luxury development, and the expansion of the city limits to places like West Seattle echo the same cycle of explosive growth and rising property values that defined the late 19th-century real estate market.
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