Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1912-07-10
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Facts.

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certain tract Of land south of the
city, | wish to make the following
explanation of the facts in relation
to this particular land:
To begin with l Wish to state. that
modesty does not forbid me making
the statement, that l think l know
more about land values I'M this locality
than some other persons who do
more talking, and my judgment in
this case has been entirely "backed
up' by facts which 1 will state. From
my experience in land l have found
my experience in land is not always
the best. I could in this connection
have bought tracts Of cheaper land,
but | think that in purchasing the
land Of which the school board have
now purchased a. part, that I bought
the cheapest land that was on the
market, locality, quality and future
conditions to be considered.
The history Of this, particular tract
and the purchase Of the same could
be written to cover several columns
In a newspaper, but l will confne
nv remarks to just a few facts, and
any person interested can verify the
same, or if have left anything I'M
said can be seen most any time.
Enough to say, that the purchase
OF this tract dates back about three
years ago when Mr.. Spicer as presi-
dent of the Board Of Education
asked me if / knew Of a suitable
tract Of ground that could be pur-
chased for school purposes. I
looked around, several tracts were
investigated and prices were estima-
ted but | found none that seemed
as practical as the tract that 1 later
purchased or that l could recommend
to the Board Of Education. After
considerable correspondence with
Mr.. Barney Leary | finally pur-
chased on my own account fifty-o one
(5l) acres from him and thru Mr..
Handy of the Bank of Willmar
closed the deal, paying $4,000 per
acre cash for the tract Of 81 acres,
including the public road on the east
and north. After purchasing this
tract l offered the Board of Educa-
ton the opportunity to buy part of
it at cost. Negotiations were held
up for some time, but later ON was
advised that the Board would pur-
chase ten acres Of it if the Board
would be permitted to select ten
acres along the north line. This
was agreed upon, and the Board
ve-y wisely selected tho best ten
acres of the whole purchase, the
tnact they selected being located on
the north road and best adapted
for their purposes. After this con-
clusion was reached the survey of
the whole tract followed and to meet
the requirements Of the board to
have tract Of land accessible from
all sides and plated in a manner so
that it could be worked to an advan-
tage, 1912 acres were plated with a
street full width ON all four sides,
thus comprising over l412 acres
which the Board agreed to purchase
at 100000. The facts are these:
purchased 81 acres from Barney
Leary for $4,000 per acre, includ-
ing the public road on the east and
north. The tract was bought for
cash and Mr.. Handy was paid, for
Mr.. Leary, $4,000 in cash. The
| Board Of Education made it's own
selection and purchased the most de-
sirable part Of the tract and that
part best adapted for it's purposes.
The Board in reality acquired over
l41a acres for 100000, as over
four acres are taken out for streets
al ound the l0.2 acre tract. These
streets were laid out to benefit the
school tract and to make it accessible
on all sides. The tract Of over 141h
acres cost me $4,000 per acre
cash to which I might add the cost
OF surveying, plating recording
carrying charges and incidental ex-
pense including the cost of line of
tile thru the south end of the school
tract which l agreed to construct
when l tiled some private lands ad-
Joining this. The item of thing alone
will cost me considerable and will
add at least $4,000 to the value of
this particula, tract, or to any other
ten acre tract that could have been
selected, as it will provide an outlet
and complete drainage at all times.
AS a matter Of fact the Board Of
Education paid me less than the
tract actually cost me and consider
able less than I could have sold it
for to private parties, and it is en-
TITLED to credit for driving a good
bargain rather than otherwise.
state that this is the cheapest
land that the Board could have
bought because it is GOOD land ad-
joining the City. 1t is land that will
appreciate in value and it is Ian
that, quality end location considered,
cannoS be duplicated for the price.
It can be sold at any time at profit.
To confirm my judgment in regard
to the value of this land l wish to
state, that soon after selling this