The Strategic Birth of the Puget Sound Navy Yard
A government commission selects Port Orchard for a $2 million naval facility, igniting a land rush in the burgeoning suburb of Tracyton.
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 commission appointed by the Navy Department to select a site for a Navy Yard on Puget Sound has reported to Secretary Tracy that they have carried out the order of the department, and have agreed on a site at Port Orchard, immediately opposite Seattle. The government will expend $2,000,000 in erecting the plant for the new naval station. Capt. J. F. Pratt has received instructions to proceed at once to Port Orchard with the United States steamer Gedney. Captain Pratt commenced surveys on Friday, May 10. The new town of Tracyton is only one hour's ride from Seattle, and is in the center of the largest lumber district. The steamers Mountaineer and Grace land at Tracyton docks daily, where the only wharf facilities at Port Orchard are to be found. One hundred lots at $50 per lot and upward on easy terms. Title perfect and guaranteed.
“The government will expend $2,000,000 in erecting the plant for the new naval station.”
This 1890s land grab surrounding the birth of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard mirrors the eternal cycle of Seattle real estate: public infrastructure investment (like the Navy Yard or modern light rail) triggers rapid land speculation and the branding of new 'suburbs'—in this case, Tracyton—to entice developers and commuters.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.