The 1891 Land Rush in Brooklyn Addition
While developers promised a suburban utopia with low down payments, the aggressive marketing tactics of the era reveal a housing market obsessed with rapid expansion and installment-plan speculation.
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.
Have you a home? A home is a permanent investment and should require thought. Look on your map and do a little figuring on your own account. Is not this addition advantageously situated? Are not the transportation facilities good? Are not the improvements being made a decided benefit to the home builder? Is not the scenery in this addition the finest around Seattle? Granting these facts as positive, won't it pay to buy a lot there? Call for plats and details. Suburban homes are a source of profit. Small cash payments, balance monthly, make the best kind of an investment. Low prices and reasonable terms to immediate builders. No cash payment is required for two years. 100 lots on the installment plan of $20 cash and balance $10 per month. Handsome residences are now being erected. No chance to make a miss. Buy now before the advance of prices catch you napping. Lots all cleared. Streets being graded.
“A home is a permanent investment and should require thought.”
The 'Brooklyn Addition' marketed in this 1891 advertisement is today’s University District. The promise of affordable installment plans and rapid development mirrors the century-long cycle of real estate speculation that has defined Seattle’s expansion and its perennial struggle with housing affordability.
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