The Unchecked Ambitions of 1878 Seattle
A prophetic editorial from the Intelligencer reveals how early leaders envisioned Seattle as the industrial and commercial juggernaut of the Pacific Northwest.
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.
Geographically considered, our county will include but a small fraction of the broad domain included within the limits of our future state; yet its position, at once central and commanding, warrants the prediction that it will be the nucleus of wealth and trade for the future commonwealth. Our county contains as large an area of arable land as Rhode Island, which supports a population of over 200,000. Our railroad advantages will compare favorably with those of the little Yankee state. We possess equal natural facilities for manufacturing; have as fine harbors, even greater advantages for trade; our location is as central and commanding in every way, and we are far richer in internal resources. There are buried away in our hills rich beds of mineral wealth—inexhaustible bodies of coal and valuable deposits of iron ore. These facts show that within the borders of our county alone may be built up a community which shall rival the importance of the state of Rhode Island. Here may, if our citizens will it, be established the future commercial mart of a great state. Thousands will find employment in the development and working of our coal and iron mines and in manufacturing. Agriculture will flourish here, especially as our farmers will find at their very doors a market for their products equal to the best on the coast. Such great advantages, however, may pass for little unless improved. The present tide in our affairs will certainly lead on to fortune if taken at the flood, but the golden thread of opportunity may not always hang within our reach, as at present.
“The present tide in our affairs will certainly lead on to fortune if taken at the flood, but the golden thread of opportunity may not always hang within our reach.”
This 1878 editorial reads like a blueprint for the 20th-century Seattle boom. It is striking how the language of 'natural resources' and 'commercial marts' mirrors the modern city's ongoing struggle to balance explosive economic growth with the preservation of the livability and character that initially made the region attractive.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.