The 'Golden Eagle' Real Estate Boom of 1889
As Seattle prepared to rebuild from its Great Fire, developers used high-profile endorsements—and the promise of a streetcar line—to sell the prestige of the Renton Addition.
And the character of every district in a city is indicated by the class of people who own property and live there. Careful people take this into consideration in selecting sites for homes, in addition to the questions of amenity and desirability of location. For the information of such persons, we take pleasure in the following list of bona fide purchasers of lots in Renton Addition: Hon. C.H. Hanford, Chief Justice of Washington Territory; Mr. Leigh S.J. Hunt, proprietor of the Post-Intelligencer; Mr. W.E. Bailey, proprietor of the Evening Press; T.M. Reed, Jr., of the United States land office; Mr. W.H. Fouts, county auditor; Prosecuting Attorney Newlin; Mr. F.W. Hallowell, general manager of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railroad company; and Ex-Prosecuting Attorney Ronald. Under the franchise granted J.M. and his associates for a cable road out Madison street, work must be commenced before September 13. Notice is hereby given that prices will be advanced 10 per cent ten days after actual work is commenced.
“A man is known by the company he keeps. And the character of every district in a city is indicated by the class of people who own property and live there.”
This 1889 advertisement highlights how developers have long used 'prestige branding'—associating land with local elites—to drive up housing prices. The scramble for lots in the 'Renton Addition' near the then-proposed Madison Street cable line mirrors today's 'transit-oriented development' speculation, where proximity to infrastructure remains the primary driver of Seattle's housing affordability crisis.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.