The Real Estate Battle for the Heights
Before the neighborhood was fully formed, the Renton Addition was marketed as the 'Fifth Avenue of Seattle,' sparking a feverish battle for transit and development on the city's highest crest.
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 platting of the property on the summit is popularly referred to as the duel event of the year in real estate circles. It means much for the city and a great deal for Madison Street. It opens up for residence the very highest and most sightly point in the city. For a long time, Madison Street has been acknowledged as the choicest avenue and the finest drive in Seattle, as well as the chief thoroughfare from the business center to Lake Washington. It is a fact, remarked by Thornton and universally recognized by citizens of Seattle, that what Michigan Avenue is to Chicago, Euclid Avenue is to Cleveland, and Fifth Avenue is to New York, Madison Street is to the Queen City. Renton Addition is the choicest property on Madison Street, just as surely as Madison Street is the choicest street in Seattle. The rapid transit people are now fighting to see which company will build out Madison Street first, and two corps of engineers are in the field. The Electric Railway Company are surveying out Madison to Filbert Street, and out Filbert to the lake. The cable company recently incorporated have begun active operations. Besides these enterprises, the three heaviest property owners on Madison street have combined and are organizing another company to build a road out the street to the lake.
“For a long time, Madison Street has been acknowledged as the choicest avenue and the finest drive in Seattle, as well as the chief thoroughfare from the business center to Lake Washington.”
The late 19th-century struggle to control transit corridors and development on Capitol Hill (where the Renton Addition sat) mirrors modern battles over urban density, transit-oriented development, and the soaring cost of land in Seattle's most desirable neighborhoods.
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