The Blurred Map of Seattle's Early Real Estate Boom
A local property surveyor exposes a deceptive mapping practice meant to obscure the true boundaries of land parcels during a heated period of development.
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.
Just to illustrate what a precarious business land speculation has been during the past year, we simply publish a statement of Mr. Shepard: 'I was asked by Mr. Randle to make an accurate survey of Central Washington addition to Seattle. I laid out the street boundaries, which formed a line around the exterior of the twenty-acre tract. I closed the lines within twenty feet and made a map to plat the lots. It was definitely agreed with me that this rough plat should not be recorded, but it was recorded at the instance of J.C. Manny of Seattle. Many of these lots have been sold, and there will be trouble in locating them.' The landlords of Washington should make a legal throw aside the old firm's record.
“It was definitely agreed with me that this rough plat should not be recorded, but it was recorded at the instance of J.C. Manny of Seattle. Many of these lots have been sold, and there will be trouble in locating them.”
This 1887 report on deceptive land platting captures the Wild West era of Seattle real estate, where informal agreements and 'rough' maps often bypassed official standards. Today's battle for urban clarity—now fought via zoning disputes and digital permitting—still echoes the fear that the original blueprints of a neighborhood might not match the reality on the ground.
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