The Price of a Seattle Landmark: A $7,500 Real Estate Snapshot from 1889
A choice residence property, recently spared by the Great Seattle Fire, highlights the rapid commercial real estate churn in the city’s post-conflagration recovery.
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.
Seven Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($7,500). A choice residence property, house and grounds, survived the late fire and is now offered for sale at the above price. This is a rare opportunity to acquire a home site near the business center, which we shall be glad to invest for our customers, the cream of which is always to be found upon our lists.
“This is a rare opportunity to acquire a home site near the business center.”
This 1889 advertisement reflects the immediate, hyper-urgent real estate market that followed the Great Seattle Fire, which leveled the central business district. Much like the contemporary pressure on Seattle's housing stock, investors were scrambling to capitalize on the city's sudden need for infrastructure and housing, turning a catastrophic disaster into a speculative opportunity for the 'cream' of the market.
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