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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 101 |
| 1883 | 537 |
| 1884 | 336 |
| 1885 | 624 |
| 1886 | 395 |
| 1887 | 350 |
2,343 stories
- The Cold Truth at City Hall
A winter coal shortage brings a parade of desperate applicants to a city official who doles out fuel with a mix of bureaucratic cruelty and casual dismissals.
- The Courthouse Mud Trap
A dangerous quagmire on Third Street leaves citizens stuck in the clay on their way to justice.
- Smallpox Hits the Upper Town
A young child’s illness sparks a strict quarantine as the city grapples with a frightening outbreak.
- The Bold Plan to Create an Island City
Prominent citizens incorporate the Washington Improvement Company to carve a canal linking Lake Washington to Lake Union, promising to reclaim marshland and shift the city's geography.
- Railroad War in the Cascades
A power struggle between a superintendent and his replacement at the Northern Pacific construction front leads to threats, unpaid fares, and shotgun standoffs.
- The Dream of a Boat-Accessible Seattle
Contractor J.J. Cummings prepares to connect the lakes, promising a future where residents can row entirely around the city.
- The Rapid Transformation of Seattle's Eastern Woods
A new route to Lake Washington reveals a landscape undergoing frantic clearing and development as the city expands toward the water.
- The Price of a Knife Fight
A violent altercation between two sailors leaves a man hospitalized and the community frustrated with a light jury verdict.
- The Waterfront Teeming with Global Trade
A look at the sheer variety of goods flowing through Seattle's wharves reveals a city rapidly expanding as a commercial powerhouse.
- Blood on the Docks
A dockworker defending his ship from a drunken interloper sparks a brutal, unresolved question about city services.
- Twenty Days of Terror on the Beebe
A storm-battered schooner arrives at Yesler's Wharf after a harrowing near-wreck off Cape Flattery.
- The Soaring Value of Seattle Dirt
A look at the rapid rise of local property values, as pioneer church lots worth a dollar reach thousands in gold.
- Seattle’s Massive Water Ambitions
The Spring Hill Water Company is betting its future—and the city's growth—on a monumental pipeline from Lake Washington.
- The Price of Seattle Real Estate
A speculative look at the rapid inflation of downtown land values on Front Street.
- The Secretive Coal King of Seattle
James M. Colman is quietly opening the McCallister mine, signaling a new industrial play near Renton.
- The Railway Reaches the Waterfront
New rail lines carve a path through the heart of the city’s industrial waterfront, displacing old businesses and promising a new era of commerce.
- The Inhumanity of the City Jail
A plea for the humane treatment of women in Seattle's overcrowded, mixed-gender prison system.
- The World's Champion Pugilist Hits Seattle
Thousands mob the waterfront to catch a glimpse of John L. Sullivan as he brings his traveling boxing roadshow to Yealer's Hall.
- The Shipwreck Scandal
A bitter public dispute erupts after shipwrecked survivors allege cruel neglect by a Seattle hotel, while locals claim the couple were rowdy drunks.
- A Brawl at the Baldwin Hotel
Pro wrestler Clarence Whistler and a member of John L. Sullivan’s traveling entourage clash in a drunken tavern confrontation.
- Labor Dispute Leads to Stand-off on City Dock
Striking railroad workers, unpaid and hungry, threaten their contractor after being stranded in Seattle.
- The Waterfront Exclusion
Citizens are being physically hustled off the docks as a new, exclusionary policy takes hold during passenger boat arrivals.
- Boston Capital Eyes Seattle Cable Cars
A visiting financier negotiates a massive infrastructure deal to bridge Seattle’s steep hills with new technology.
- The Tragic End of a Seattle Art Teacher
After struggling to establish her art classes in Seattle, a young California woman takes her own life using poison purchased at a local drugstore.
- Old-Timer Assaulted by Land-Grant Lobbyist
A pioneer settler is attacked on Main Street by a man hired to lobby against land reform, fueling local outrage against corporate influence.