On June 28, 1872, William Knight purchases 159 acres from the federal government in what will become a part of the Greenwood retail district of Seattle. The future Greenwood district is located in north Seattle, north of Green Lake. Knight pays $1.25 per acre for the real estate. His purchase includes land that will later be bounded by 80th to 85th streets and 3rd Avenue NW to Aurora Avenue, plus 85th to 90th streets and Greenwood to Fremont avenues. The land northwest of what will be NW 85th Street and Greenwood Avenue N is set aside for school purposes.
Land could not be purchased from the federal government until it was surveyed. On August 7, 1855, the U.S. Office of the Surveyor General contracted with Deputy Surveyor William Strickler and Compassman David Phillips to survey a township designated Township 25 North and Range 3 East. The township boundaries went from Denny Way to 85th Street and from Greenwood Avenue to Puget Sound. The township included the neighborhoods of Ballard, Magnolia, and part of Queen Anne. Strickler hired two chainmen and an axeman to complete the crew.
On August 17, 1855, the crew proceeded north along what would become Greenwood Avenue N starting at N 65th Street. They noted fir and cedar trees from 1.5 to 3.5 feet in diameter. At 76th Street they spotted a dead fir nearly 6 feet in diameter. Upon reaching 85th Street they described the route along this mile as "Land nearly level. [Soil] 2nd rate. Timber -- fir, cedar, hemlock. Undergrowth - Laurel, Fern and willow." They submitted the completed survey on January 11, 1856.
