The City's Quest for Poultry Independence
Local entrepreneurs are opening large chicken ranches to end Seattle’s reliance on imports from Portland.
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.
A poultry man said a day or so ago, 'Seattle will within a short time no longer have to depend on other points for her poultry. For years we have been buying a great part of our poultry in other markets. Within a short space of time we shall be able to buy poultry at home, for as many as seven men have opened large yards in the suburbs. These chicken ranches, if properly managed, raise poultry enough to supply both Seattle and Tacoma.'
“Within a short space of time we shall be able to buy poultry at home.”
This 1888 dispatch captures the early, fragile attempts at regional food sovereignty. Much like today’s focus on 'farm-to-table' and supply chain resilience in the face of growth, 19th-century Seattle was grappling with its rapid expansion and dependence on neighboring hubs like Portland.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.