The End of the Frontier Boom
An 1886 dispatch from the San Francisco Chronicle assesses the cooling of Washington Territory's economy, marking the transition from feverish speculation to steady growth.
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.
The progress made by Washington Territory during the past year, while not to be compared in ratio with the phenomenal advance made during the preceding three years, has yet been such as to justify every confidence in its future. In other words, the days of 'boom' for the Territory are past—at least for the present—and business is now done on a business basis, without regard to inflated values or the seductive allurements of the professional real estate boomer. It says not a little for the Territory that it has come so well out of the term of feverish excitement which all new countries seem destined to pass through, and that today, in every part of it, there are the best kind of indications of solid and permanent prosperity. The principal city in the Territory in point of population, enterprise and good government is undoubtedly Seattle. Its growth has been rapid, solid and more independent. Its mines are exceptionally good, its harbor affords good shelter and secure anchorage, and Seattle has gained in stability. It has all the usual industries in sympathetic operation—sawmills, foundries, tanneries, etc.—being the principal industries. Its wharves present an animated scene from the constant arrival and departure of the various steamers which connect it with adjoining cities and the islands that dot the Sound.
“The days of 'boom' for the Territory are past—at least for the present—and business is now done on a business basis.”
In 1886, observers were already noting the transition from a 'feverish' real estate boom to a more grounded economy. Over 130 years later, Seattle remains locked in the same cycle, constantly debating the merits of speculative growth versus the pursuit of 'solid and permanent' urban stability.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.