Mayor Phelps
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- Mar 21, 1894The Struggle for a Streamlined SeattleMayor Phelps calls for a total overhaul of the city charter, arguing that the existing system is far too expensive and cumbersome for Seattle’s rapid growth.Seattle, WA
- Apr 1, 1894Bricklayers Refuse to Take a Pay CutWorkers hold a tense meeting with the City Council, arguing that cutting wages during a depression will only lead to poorer infrastructure and personal poverty.City Hall, Seattle, WA
- Apr 17, 1894Seattle's 1894 Budget Crisis: $89,787 Short and Cutting the PoliceA comptroller's statement exposed a looming deficit, the council created a retrenchment committee, and eight patrolmen were dropped from the force—over the mayor's personal objection.Seattle City Hall, Seattle, WA
- Apr 24, 1894Seattle's Mayor Skeptical of Coxey's Army ArrivalAs unemployed men march toward Washington D.C. to demand government action, Seattle's mayor offers little hope for public assistance to the local contingent.City Hall, Seattle, WA
- May 9, 1894The Fire Chief’s Citizenship CrisisA political showdown at the Fire Board reveals deep divisions over the city's control of the department.Seattle, WA
- May 25, 1894The Political Shuffle of Seattle's Police ChiefIn a closed-door meeting, the police commissioners demoted Chief Willard and installed Bolton Rogers, citing a desire for 'better standards of service.'Seattle, WA
- Jun 4, 1894A Senator’s Gift of StoneSenator Watson C. Squire offers the city free rock from his Duwamish River quarries to help jumpstart local street paving efforts.Duwamish River, Seattle, WA
- Jun 6, 1894City Laborers Find Relief at the BankMayor Phelps intervenes to stop the exploitation of city laborers by 'scrip buyers' who were charging fees to cash municipal pay checks.Seattle, WA
- Jun 8, 1894The Farmers' Valley CanalA coalition of valley landowners and city officials meet to debate the funding and construction of a massive drainage canal.Van Asselt, Seattle, WA
- Jun 28, 1894Seattle's Public Library Gets a Grand OpeningCivic leaders and citizens celebrate the opening of the city’s new library rooms, featuring an elegant ladies' reading room and aspirations for a permanent building.Seattle, WA
- Jun 30, 1894The Plumbing Inspector ControversyMayor Phelps's appointment of a new inspector faces a public challenge from the local plumbers' union.Seattle, WA
- Jul 4, 1894The Fire Commissioners' Two Failed Moves to Fire the ChiefTwo Seattle fire commissioners tried twice in one meeting to unseat Chief Hunt — first with a citizens' petition, then with a charge that he had lied to get his naturalization papers.Seattle, WA
- Jul 20, 1894The Fire Chief’s Citizenship PapersChief Hunt says he will fight a Pierce County indictment charging that his 1892 naturalization certificate was fraudulently obtained.Tacoma, WA
- Aug 11, 1894Pay for a Job That Wasn't There: Seattle's Employment-Agency ScamA city council committee heard workers describe paying fees to G.W. Crane's employment office and arriving to find no jobs, with agents accused of splitting fees with contractors.Seattle, WA
- Aug 14, 1894The Streetcar Men Asked Seattle to Set Their Wages. The City's Lawyer Said No.A union petition to write conductor and motorman pay into the street railway franchise ran into the corporation counsel's constitutional wall — so the council sent it back to committee to try again as an ordinance.Seattle, WA
- Sep 3, 1894The Secret Move to Fire Seattle’s Police ChiefA closed-door police commission meeting nearly deposed Chief Bolton Rogers. Commissioners disagreed over politics, fitness, and whether the mayor had already shut the effort down.Seattle, WA
- Sep 4, 1894The Night Seattle’s Mayor Nearly Fired His Police BoardAn executive-session showdown over Chief Rogers ended with Mayor Phelps handing a commissioner his own removal papers — then taking them back.Seattle, WA
- Sep 5, 1894The Mayor Tells the Fire Commission Who's BossA monthly meeting erupts into a power struggle over Chief Hunt, with Mayor Phelps warning Commissioner Meek that he alone will decide when the fire chief goes.Seattle, WA
- Sep 6, 1894The Mayor Fires His Police Commissioner in a Fight Over a DenA vice dispute between Seattle's police chief and one of his commissioners ends with Mayor Phelps wielding the axe.Seattle, WA
- Sep 7, 1894The Police Chief Who Refused to Reopen Seattle's Red-Light DistrictA behind-the-scenes account of how a police commissioner tried to oust Chief Rogers because he wouldn't let the Blackchapel cribs rent again—and how the mayor stopped him.Seattle, WA
- Sep 7, 1894The Mayor Fires Two Police Commissioners to Keep Blackchapel ShutIn a single day, Mayor Phelps removed two police commissioners, accused them of conspiring to protect a red-light district and oust Chief Rogers, and installed replacements before the House of Delegates could slow him down.Seattle City Hall, Seattle, WA
- Sep 8, 1894The Mayor Fired Him; He Took City Hall to CourtPolice Commissioner John O. Niggle challenged Mayor Phelps's removal power—and his fellow commissioner Cheasty refused even to shake the mayor's hand.Seattle, WA
- Sep 8, 1894Seattle's Library on the Brink: Fines Fall, Debt RisesThe city's finance committee and library commission meet to confront a growing debt caused by declining fine revenue, as circulation soars and the institution struggles to stay open.Seattle Public Library, Seattle, WA
- Sep 12, 1894Seattle's Chamber Tries to Get Tacoma on Board for a Ship CanalIn 1894, Seattle's business leaders asked their Tacoma counterparts to endorse a Lake Washington-to-Puget Sound waterway and petition Congress for the project.Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle, WA
- Sep 18, 1894The Mayor Can Fire His Police Commissioners — But He Has to Give Them a Hearing FirstJudge Langley rules that Mayor Phelps had the power to remove Commissioners Cheasty and Niggle, but that he skipped the required notice and hearing. Now the hearing looks like a formality — with the mayor sitting as his own judge.Seattle, WA
- Sep 19, 1894The Pastor Broke Down: Seattle Buries the Pioneer Who Built Its Reform SchoolA crowded North Seattle church, a room full of old pioneers, and a eulogy so affecting that the minister — a friend since 1849 — had to stop and compose himself.Seattle, WA
- Sep 19, 1894The Mayor, the Commissioners and a City Hall TruceSeattle's police board waits for Mayor Phelps to make his next move after a judge sides with Commissioners Cheasty and Niggle.Seattle, WA
- Jan 8, 1895The Mint Saloon Loses Its License—and City Hall Braces for CourtThe council confirmed a new police commissioner, reappointed officials, revoked the Mint Saloon's license over loud legal objections, and set Pike Street on the road to vitrified brick.Seattle City Hall, Seattle, WA
- Jan 24, 1895Seattle Tries to Close the Side Doors on Its SaloonsCity officials drafted a new liquor ordinance to repeal the old “wide entrance” law and force every saloon to have a single street entrance, banning “ladies’ entrances” and other side-door workarounds.Seattle, WA
- Jan 25, 1895A Mayor's Nomination and the Aldermen Laying Plans to Block ItMayor Phelps names John J. Scurry to the board of public works, and the same aldermanic combination that fought his predecessor quietly organizes to sink the confirmation.Seattle City Hall, Seattle, WA
- Jan 27, 1895The Alderman Who Wanted the $600 JobLeander Miller led the fight against John G. Scurry’s confirmation to the board of public works—because Miller wanted the seat himself.Seattle City Hall, Seattle, WA
- Jan 29, 1895Seattle Aldermen Kill Scurry's Confirmation in a JiffyA raucous 1895 council session turns into a fight over public works, unemployment relief, and a telephone monopoly.Seattle, WA