The Boomtown Delusion of 1880
A newly minted Eastern Washington town predicts it will hit 20,000 residents in a decade—the original Seattle-area land speculation fever dream.
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 certain town in Whitman County, not yet three months old, is very ambitious, judging from the tone of the weekly paper published within its limited precincts. That authority says that its town 'is to be one of the most important business centers in Eastern Washington, and it is no exaggeration to say that inside of ten years it will have a population of 20,000 souls.' Phew! Let’s all move over, and as citizens enjoy the coming greatness of this wonderful young city.
“Phew! Let’s all move over, and as citizens enjoy the coming greatness of this wonderful young city.”
This 1880 dispatch captures the exact spirit of speculative mania that has defined Washington growth for over a century. From the 'bust' of tiny frontier hopefuls to the 'boom' of modern tech corridors, the promise of an overnight metropolis remains the region's most persistent cultural export.
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