The Real Estate Fire Sale of the Comstock Estate
A court-ordered liquidation of downtown Seattle property hits the market, signaling the rapid consolidation of city center land during the late 19th-century boom.
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.
Charles E. Jenner, executor of the estate of P. C. Comstock, deceased, has announced the court-ordered sale of several significant real estate holdings in Seattle. These properties include fifty-two lots in the Comstock and Comstock supplemental additions, located within two blocks of the Front Street extension, as well as several lots in Brawley’s addition. Notably, the estate includes a valuable one-eighth interest in timber and coal properties near Lake Washington, estimated to contain six million tons of coal. The executor has stated that the greater portion of these holdings must be sold to settle the estate, offering a rare opportunity for investors to acquire land in the rapidly developing city center.
“The above is one of the most valuable coal properties in Washington Territory, and is fully developed. The tract contains over six millions of tons of good coal.”
This 1885 legal notice captures the exact moment Seattle’s downtown footprint began to solidify through land speculation and estate liquidations. Just as today’s housing market struggles with the churn of corporate ownership, late 19th-century Seattle was defined by individual developers like the Comstocks who effectively drew the map of our modern, high-density core.
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