Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1876-03-08
PRICES or LAND LONG AGO.


{ From the Lane aster Inielligeneer.l
r The increased vaIuc of farm land il
Eastern Pennsylvania since the frs
settlement of this section, is the bes
evidence of the progressed the countr,
and the marvellous activity of its popn
lation. In the early days all invest
ments were made in reaS estate, aat
these purchases from time TO tim,
made up the plantations, some of which
are still held by descendants OF. the
; former proprictors. Now the accumu
lation OF q large landed estate in the
tbickly populated districts Of Eastern
Pennsylvania, is one-balf of the i'm
probabilities Real estate is too valu-
able, because of the growth of towns
and cities on these once uncultivated
acres. The following sccount Of the
prices Of land ID Lancaster county, wc
take from Baer's Almanac" for 1876
The first settlement in Lancaster
county was madesouih by cast of Lam
caster city, between l70S and 1880. At
thattime lands patented. Between
1880 and 1850, under Thomas and
Richard Penn, the price paid for land
was ZIG js Cd. for 106 aires. 1t gradu-
ally rose in price, and 1850 good lime
stone land sold at 81, 900 for 100 acres.
1t averaged that price until about 176O.
In 1865 il sold somewhat higher, in
some cases as high as e1, ,l0V per 100
acres, and for oxtra quality even higher.
About the year 1870, it sold from ESQ
to f75 lower per 100 acres owing to
the troubles with the mother country.
which eliminated in the Revolutionary
war, but soon after the conclusion OF
the war, land was sold by the acre.
From this period up to 1890, land rose
from $50 to $50 per acre, and contin-
ued so up to the period Of the French
revolution in 1876. The war of 1872
with England, caused another advance
in the price Of land, bringing it up to
500 per acre.
In. 1915 there were upwards of 300
distilleries in Lancaster county, and
land made a sudden rise from slOO to
5000 an acre. Speculation run riot !;
many new banks were chartered, and
numerous banlIIailures occurred. The
three. .fourths oftbc neonleoftlot ,own
Many failures also tooIf Mace ali ovor
the country. Land went downin price
as suddenly as it had gone up. From
1920 to 1880 il sold at from $50 10 $50
an acre The nrice or wheo, N T tSo
best mart of Lancaster county was @
from 20 eents ,o s1 mo-, hnsLaI'. oorn
25 cents oats 90 ccnts rood horsd
brougbt sG5 and stocL catils frnn,
10 2 cents a Mound other thinrs hn;n.
in thai pronor,ion 'Ns
From 1884 10 1907 ,,ood ,sros -,
the Conestoca near Browns,own ,vcre
sold for s3s an acre and ono ~ ,he
Brnbalsers' farms on ,he New ~ un,,anS J '
nike near Eden only hron,h, ,La,
price The farm now owneJ l., Gu
uel Bausman on tho M;llersr,lio n;l,a
was sold for s34 an aero and ,ho woll ll
known firm az David Al NJ ~ ~,
the Fru;tvillo niko onIv ,wo - g. ~
Lancaster sold ,or 9oi a. M, "a a
great many industrious farmers who
had bought farms at a bigb price last
everything In some instances mon
who had bought lands NJ bigb pr,ces
with widows dover were comnellod
to leave them TO the widows for thoir
dowers.
From 1870 10 1898 land won, nm in
price again. 20 that imnroved firms
sold at slOO an acre AZ This neriod
was more or less agi,ated
in all tho States. and Pennsvlvania
State loans sold as low as 33 cents on
the dollar A general dissatis,ac,;on
with the Van Buren NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
brought on a panic. and dnll times nre.
vailed until the Mexican war ana tbe
discovery of gold in California in 1913
Good farms were sold in tho vicinity
of Lancaster CITY in ia44 NJ from sSo
10 $50 an acre 6ut after 1eIs land rose
again. and in 1860 sold at s15f an acrc
In 1866 il reached 5000 nor ocre
and this was about tho AVERAGE nrice
But land since then has come down
least $50 an acre There
were three good farms adjoining each
other. two of which wore sold about
six years apo at $40 an acre Tho
finest and best located of the three was
put up at public sale'in The faIl of 1879
and only brought si77 an acre, be,ug
s63 less an acre than il cos, s