, 1889-01-24
To II CoSTrarrD.
The Growth Of Gort Tow@s,nd's Real
Lst.te Values.

The Growth of Gort Tow~s,uds Rea,
Lst,te Values.
No criterion Of Judgment can l.,
safer, in regard to a city's real estate
than the growth Of it= laiue moasug,
ed through 4 series Of years. Some
towns receive sudden imitation OF
values because Of some booming pro
ject on the part Of their managers
only to be followed by periods OF
depression Such towns are very IN,
safe places for investment. and ne
careful man viii invest IN such :
place.
The fact that Port Townsend.
real estate has
NEVER YET DEPRECATED
a dollar, speaks volumes for US. and
proves that ours Is in no sense a boom
town We are safe in saying that nc
one month has ever closed, in the his
tory of our city, which did not leave
real estate higher than it found it
Never has this upward movement
rested, but it has held its onward
march steadily through the long
years with persistency thar is tie
surprise even of our most interested
citizens. Never have We yet had
anything like boom, and never mas
there been one cent lost in real es-
tate venture on Quimper peninsula.
ILLUSTRATIVE FACTS.
Let us Illustrate this by some spe-
citic facts and figures:
In 1879 DR.. n. D. Hill offered to
the Methodist Church the lot adjoin-
ing the church property in block 135
for sixty dollars. This was consid-
cred too high at that time and the
purchase was not made. In 1856.
Capt. G. Williams bought the lot,
paying $3.50 This was 900 per cent
in seUeH years. The lot Is now worth,
as property sells, at least 5000, or
an increase OF $50 per cent in two
and a half years. The increase for
the ten years, over the then value, is
1000 per cent. This lot is no excep-
ton, and has iu it 20 special value
over any other piece Of property in
the city.
In February, 1887. Mr.. 4. \. Plum
mer advertised IN the ARGUS. lots in
his addition on First street for $500
on the installment plan. The price
was considered too high, and during
the month one sold. Ia March a
few sold. In April they advanced
to $500 By August they sold at S4OO.
Now they are readily bring ing $500
per lot-a gain of 400 per cent in
two years. Property in the heart of
the city has kept fully up with this
march of values. 1t is safe to say
that there is not square rod of land
within five miles of the Union wharf
that has not increased in value at
least 300 per cent. 10 the last 2 years.
What Is remarkable,is is that the month
of December, 1888, when no work was
being done on the railroad, and
many of our leading citizens were
absent, marked the greatest rise in
value of any other month in the his>
tory Of the city. This rise is ac-
counted for by the fact that many
supposed there would be a depres-
sion from the prices of last season
and hence waited until mid~winter
to buy property. These purchasers
began to realize that prices were
stiffening, and hence intending pur-
chasers became anxious, and prices
went up accordingly.
There can be no questions as to
much higher rates this next summer.
Careful business men and sbrewd OBJ
servers say that from April until Au-
gust, 1889, Will mark the most sig
nal advance ever yet known in the
history of Port Townsend real estate.
For ourselves we have no doubt as to
the realization of this prediction and
we prophesy that never while the
American flag floats will real estate
be SO low in Port Townsend as at
present.