The Boom on the Sound
A look at the rapid industrial and commercial expansion of Port Townsend in 1888.
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.
A very striking demonstration of the claim that the progressive movement at Seattle is not a 'boom' but a natural and wholesome development, is found in the fact that all the Puget Sound cities are prospering together. The movement here and elsewhere is but the reflection of activities abroad in the country, all based upon increasing population and expanding industry. Our neighboring city of Port Townsend is just now enjoying an especially active and progressive season. Every boat brings her new people, her shipping interest is growing with the development of commerce on the Sound, her local trade organization is increasing, an important fishery interest is springing up, and as a result of all these influences there is a marked appreciation in land values. Port Townsend has had a hard struggle with fortune, but her prospects are now very bright and she is clearly destined to become a fine city. Among the points of development to which she points with satisfaction, the following are the most notable: (1) About 500 acres of land in and about the city have been subscribed to ensure a railroad connection, with every prospect of one within the next few days. Negotiations are in progress to secure by rail also the commencement of the construction of the belt road at an early date. (2) Recent discoveries of coal and iron within a short distance of Townsend are immediately tributary to the future of the city as a coal and iron center. In this respect an important lead has been established by the Puget Sound Iron Company, at Irondale. This company has invested a large sum of money. They will be in operation, and it is said that by August they will be employing seven hundred men. (3) As a port, Port Townsend is doing a very important business. The above points are but a few that cover all the conditions which make for progress; it is the intention of the press at an early day to present them in a thorough and complete review. For the present it may be said that Port Townsend is getting her full share of the general progress of the time and is growing at a rate never before equaled in her history.
“A very striking demonstration of the claim that the progressive movement at Seattle is not a 'boom' but a natural and wholesome development, is found in the fact that all the Puget Sound cities are prospering together.”
Port Townsend's late 19th-century optimism regarding railroad booms and iron production echoes the perennial search for 'the next big thing' that has defined Pacific Northwest urban development from the gold rush to the modern tech era. While the industrial steel dream at Irondale eventually faded, the city's struggle to balance rapid growth with infrastructure remains a familiar narrative for residents of the Puget Sound region.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.