The Streetcar Boom of 1891
A new electric line to Lake Washington promises to turn suburban wilderness into a goldmine, triggering a scramble for land.
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.
The Rainier Avenue Electric Line is now (New Year's Day) opened for traffic. Its course is an easterly direction to Lake Washington. This event makes available, for the first time, a large section unsurpassed for attractiveness. The region along the lake is destined to become extremely valuable on account of its peculiar desirability for suburban residences. This fact will be appreciated when the people become acquainted with it as they now will be able to do. Of course, values will advance. There will be a 'scramble' for holdings. We are able to offer a large and varied list to select from: 97 1/2 acres at $350 per acre; 40 acres at $325 per acre; 10-acre tracts at $300 per acre, on small payment down and balance on installments.
“There will be a 'scramble' for holdings.”
The 1891 'scramble' for land along the new Rainier Avenue electric line echoes Seattle's perennial transit-oriented development struggles. Today, as then, the arrival of new infrastructure—whether a 19th-century streetcar or a 21st-century light rail station—instantly transforms land into speculative assets, forcing a conversation about whether transit should serve the public or primarily drive real estate appreciation.
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