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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 101 |
| 1883 | 537 |
| 1884 | 336 |
| 1885 | 624 |
| 1886 | 395 |
| 1887 | 350 |
2,343 stories
- The Chamber of Commerce vs. The People
Citizens are mobilizing to protest the Chamber of Commerce’s support for the Northern Pacific Railroad’s controversial land grant.
- The 'Dead Line' at the San Francisco Store
Before it became a retail hub, the basement of the San Francisco store in Seattle served as a federal jail where prisoners waited for trial while playing cards and bartering for tobacco.
- The Great Migration of Seattle’s Buildings
A peculiar phenomenon hits Pacific Avenue as wooden structures vacate their lots to make way for the city's new brick ambitions.
- The Daily Commute: A Seattle Tragedy and the City's Growing Pains
While Seattle leaders focused on the expansion of railroads and the promise of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway, a grieving mother buried her child, marking the harsh reality of urban development in 1887.
- The Human Cargo in the Ash Pan
A steamship captain reveals the desperate lengths to which his crew went to smuggle Chinese laborers past authorities in the Puget Sound.
- The Shadow in Pioneer Square
A young woman takes a stand against her husband’s gambling habit on the streets of late-19th-century Seattle.
- The Great Railway Land Scandal
A sweeping federal report reveals that major railroad corporations failed to complete thousands of miles of track despite receiving massive federal land grants.
- The Birth of Seattle's Business Power
Twenty-five of the city's most influential men gathered in 1882 to formalize the Chamber of Commerce, signaling a new era of civic muscle and territorial lobbying.
- Turning Stumps into a City: Seattle's Great Transformation
For a quarter-century, the residents of Seattle have been waging a slow, expensive war against the forest, clearing timber, leveling hills, and filling ravines to make way for a modern city.
- Tragedy on the Tracks at Spirit Wood
A broken axle on a work train leaves a trail of injured men and death on the Northern Pacific line.
- The Fire That Starved a City: How a Burning Lime Ship Stalled Seattle’s Building Boom
When the steamer *Yquina* exploded in flames at Pacific Dock, it didn't just destroy $35,000 worth of cargo—it left 600 mechanics without work and halted the construction of a growing metropolis.
- The 'Curse' of the Chinese: How Seattle's Elite Tried to Buy Their Way Out of Racism
In May 1882, a local editorial argued that property owners should refuse to rent or sell land to Chinese immigrants, claiming they were bad tenants and a financial drain on the city.
- The Paperwork Error That Challenged Seattle’s Property Claims
A legal dispute over a real estate deed in 1885 reveals how bureaucratic technicalities—specifically a missing county seal—threatened the validity of early land titles in King County.
- The Unpaid Wages of Seattle's Mill Workers
Employees at a local mill face financial desperation after being notified that their promised wages for two weeks of labor cannot be paid.
- The Political Club That Stood Up to a Partisan Purge
In 1885, a band of concerned citizens formed an 'independent' club to protect the judiciary from political interference, launching a defiant campaign to keep a respected judge on the bench.
- The Railway's Shadow Over Washington Politics
A scathing editorial exposes how the Northern Pacific Railroad is buying influence by handing out free travel passes to political aspirants in Washington Territory.
- Fatal Fall from a Cascade Bridge
A young bridge builder falls thirty feet to his death on the Northern Pacific railroad line, leaving a grieving mother in Oak Harbor.
- The Railroad’s Grip on Washington Territory Politics
A fiery open letter from 1885 accuses a party official of selling out the public interest to railroad companies, sparking a scandal over land rights and free travel bribes.
- The Strike of the Coastal Sailors
Sailors in Seattle and along the coast organize to demand higher wages, leading to a blockade of vessels in the harbor.
- The Ex-Mayor’s Long Road Back to the Courthouse
After three years on the run, former Seattle Mayor Thomas J. Burke has finally been apprehended in Port Townsend.
- The Hotel Oriental Arson Mystery
An inquest reveals that a fatal Seattle hotel fire was deliberately set with coal oil, as a grieving city searches for the culprit behind the death of Erie Johnson.
- The Great Cascade Rail Land Gamble
A reader asks if the railroad owns the land it’s selling in the Cascades; the editor argues the company's title is as muddled as the mountain tracks.
- The Seattle-Shore Line Deadlock
A standoff between the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Oregon Improvement Company leaves the vital Shore Line trackage idle.
- The Con Artist Who Fleeced All of Seattle
A smooth-talking lawyer arrives with a letter of introduction from the Governor, only to leave a trail of unpaid debts, fake mortgages, and broken promises across the city.
- The Great Land Squeeze of 1885
While the Northern Pacific Railroad publicly promised to 'build up the country,' settlers in King County found their land held hostage for mineral rights and future profits.