Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1891-05-27
The Charlesto,cm sale.


andoah Valley. In fact, this sale was the
first in either of the yirginias based ON sub
stantial development.
The trouble has been of late that North
ern buyers were frightened off by high
prices and in spite of the wonderful advan-
tages in combination here anticipated but
small purchasing outside of this valley.
1t transpired, however, that at the sale
yesterday and to-day the largest buyers were
Pennsylvaniaus, chiefly from Lancaster and
Uniontown, and the bulk of the $780, 900 of
los sold was bought by these Pennsylyan-
ians.
There were, moreover, several New York
ers who showed faith in this town named
after Charles Washington. One was Cen
eral C. II. Smythe, of Clinton, n. Y, an
iron master of prominence and now either
a Senator or ex-senator and once upon q
time member of Tilden's staff. Another
was State Senator Coggeshall, from Water
vile. n. Y, who purchased largely. In
deed, think Senator Coggeshall put about
SIS, 600 into the town for himself and friends
in the Empire State. Then, there was Judge
Granville P. Haines, of New York city, who
invested some thousands in this lovely city
Of the plain.
There were a good many buyers from
Wheeling. the chief city of the State, and
some from Baltimore and other points to
the northward. Mr.. E. Payson Trumbull,
Of Hartford, Conn, bought a dozen or more
lots.
Professional boomers and spectators gen.
orally were conspicuous fol- their absence
Nine out of ten Of those who bought, bought
to build houses to accommodate the employ
es of the many new industries recently es-
tabllshed at Charlestown, and such store
houses and shops as will be brought into
requisition by the immediate doubling of
the old towns population.
A syndicate from Lancaster contracted to
build so houses as swiftly as could be, and
so the contractors were buster than the real
estate agents directly after the sale. The
latter, however, will have all they can do,
as we'll as the contractors, for the lots sold
at prices sure to advance speedily and stead
lily.
confess the outcome of this inaugural
sale in the Virginias had been to me a source
of considerable anxiety, for knew that the
local people of the Shenandoah Valley were
heavily "loaded" with real estate, and were
needing their surplus funds to meet deferred
payments and finish the new houses which
are going up by the hundreds from Har-
pers Ferry to Roanoke. But had | only
remembered that there are to-day as many,
if not more, new industries in operation and
contracted for at Charlestown than at any
town between Hagerstown and Buena Vista,
/ should have felt much solicitude, hard
times or no hard times, for the result of the
sale. 1t was not that 1 cared particularly
for this one town, but that the gait here set
would affect the sales all over the valley.
Nor does it ordinarily matter much whether
land sales prove successful or not. Never
theless. in the case of the new towns in the
Virginias a peculiar significance attaches,
for millions of money have been spent by
various town companies in machinery for
all sorts of industries, the expenditure of
which was in many cases predicated upon
the lot sales of this spring.
Nothing extravagant, nothing smackingo of
speculation, has been expected; but these
land companies did rely upon purchasers for
their lots az values based on added popula
ton. Thus, taking Charlestown as an in
stance, 5000 people to-day occupy about 60
blocks; that is, about so people, or five
homes, on block, aside from the lots occu-
pied for stores and factories. Now, with the
population doubled, it should be calculated
that 60 blocks must be built upon at once
The average prices for lots at this sale
ranged from $3.50 for residence lots to twice
that for business lots, which in this case
means a certain guaranty that the land com
pany will prove paying venture. 1t is GER
tain that the unsold lots will bring twice the
figures named, and if half that money be put
into additional factories it will eventuate in
quadrupling the towns present population,
the effect OF which will be to quadruple the
money yesterday and to-day here invested.
''The times are hard, as the phrase goes,
nevertheless the prices obtained at this sale
were on an average higher than obtained
at the first sale had at Basic City, where
every investor has made from 500 to 1000
per cent already, and the Lord only knows
how much more in future.
There was a wonderful attendance at this
sale, not so much in numbers as in the quail
ity of the buyers. Still, there was bigger
crowd than at any sale heretofore had in the
Virginia valley except at the Woodland
Park sale at Roanoke last iall The day be-
fore the sale the lot drawing took place, and
though there is generally multitudious kick
ing over the result of lot drawings, in this
instance The plan was laid out so faily that
it was almost impossible for one stakeholder
to have any advantage over another. Con-
sequently all were satisfied.
At the stockholders meeting majority
were present in propriq persona. The work