The Rebuilding of Seattle
A desperate plea to voters in 1889 to elect leaders who could manage the massive, necessary reconstruction of a city decimated by fire.
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.
There is perhaps no city in the United States which offers so great an opportunity for the creation of a fine, modern town than does Seattle at the present. The recent catastrophe has been a great theatrical tragedy, but it offers now an opportunity for investment such as is seldom desired. For years, the city has been a growing city, yet never has it had a truly modern layout. A portion of Seattle is to be replanted and rebuilt. Broad streets, new wharves, and new docks are to be made, and the heart of the most important part of this city is to be leveled. An army of men must be in this work, and in addition to it all, the city government must exert a firm hand of control over the many property builders who are about to begin building operations upon a large scale. In order that all these things may be properly done, there must be at the head of affairs men of wisdom, prudence, and energy, and men of no mean ability in dealing with matters of finance. Never in the history of Seattle has there been an election so important as that which will take place in a few weeks. The city will, in the next year, accomplish what usually takes many years, and during the period of rebuilding, the direction of the affairs of the city must be in the hands of those who are not afraid of work.
“The city will, in the next year, accomplish what usually takes many years, and during the period of rebuilding, the direction of the affairs of the city must be in the hands of those who are not afraid of work.”
This editorial was written just weeks after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, which leveled the central business district. It captures the exact moment when the city moved from the trauma of disaster to the aggressive, top-down civic planning that laid the foundation for modern downtown Seattle, echoing today's perennial struggle over who controls the city's growth.
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