The Real Estate Fever of 1891
A classic advertisement for 'Sonora,' a speculative development that promised electric trolleys and immense wealth to anyone brave enough to buy a stake in the growing Seattle outskirts.
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.
Crisp Snaps. There is a tract of land just now placed upon the market which is located right in the heart of the most desirable portions of our city and suburban land between lakes. It is situated further front than any in this vicinity that you can buy for less than $1,000 for a five-acre lot. Quick Sales, Small Profits. An especially fine country residence site, excellent in every respect; pleasant, elevated; many beautiful shade trees; clear of stumps; a stream passes through one corner. Thirty acres near the platted part. One of many at $150 per acre. Port Orchard: One hundred acres water front, partially improved, $40 per acre; easy payments. The Rainier Avenue Electric line is now (this New Year’s day) opened for traffic. Its course is mainly fairly to Lake Washington. A great area is available, for the first time, a large section suitable for investment. The region about the line is bound to become extremely valuable on account of its peculiar desirability for suburban residences. This fact will be appreciated when the people become acquainted with what they would be able to do. Of course, rates are advancing.
“The region about the line is bound to become extremely valuable on account of its peculiar desirability for suburban residences.”
This 1891 advertisement captures the 'get in early' mania that defined early Seattle’s expansion. Today, that same spirit drives the city’s intense housing market, though the 'cheap' acreage on the outskirts of the 19th century has been replaced by high-density urban development and a persistent struggle over the cost of living.
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