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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 421 |
| 1877 | 288 |
| 1878 | 80 |
| 1880 | 80 |
869 stories
- The Iron Vein: Seattle’s Gamble on the Railroad
In 1876, local leaders rallied behind a desperate bid to connect the young city of Seattle to the interior coal mines and grain lands, arguing that the railroad was the only path from frontier outpost to global port.
- The Price of Panic: 1876 Seattle Views on Labor and Economic Depression
An editorial from the Seattle Daily Intelligencer explores the deep-seated economic anxieties of the era, blaming trade disputes and 'idle' men for the systemic instability of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Unsettled Nation: Seattle Watches the 1876 Election Crisis
While the nation held its breath over a deadlocked presidential contest, Seattle locals turned their eyes toward the local ballot, formalizing the region's nascent civic infrastructure.
- The High Price of the Cedar Harvest
An 1876 editorial from Seattle critiques the 'disproportionately large pay' of loggers, blaming high wages for the financial instability of the industry.
- The Idle Crowd: Seattle's 1877 Moral Panic over 'Street Loafers'
A local editor observes the growing ranks of the unemployed and 'non-descript' men gathering on Seattle corners, questioning how they survive in a bustling, labor-dependent territory.
- The Price of a 'Pest House' in Pioneer Seattle
As drought and economic chaos gripped 1877 San Francisco, Seattle citizens found themselves debating the ethics of turning a local residential property into an isolation facility for the smallpox-stricken.
- The Dangerous Plank Walk of Old Seattle
While the city dragged its feet on street improvements in 1878, residents were forced to navigate treacherous, makeshift wooden planks, causing frustration and daily peril.
- The Struggle for Home Ownership in Early Seattle
An 1877 editorial argues that the city's growth is being stifled by speculative land hoarding, keeping affordable homes out of reach for the working class.
- The River vs. The Rails: Walla Walla’s Plea for a Seattle Link
In 1877, Eastern Washington leaders warned that relying on the Columbia River was a fatal mistake, urging the federal government to subsidize a railroad connecting their region directly to Seattle.
- The Unchecked Ambitions of 1878 Seattle
A prophetic editorial from the Intelligencer reveals how early leaders envisioned Seattle as the industrial and commercial juggernaut of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Strict Rules of Territorial Ballot Boxes
Before the secret ballot was standardized, Washington Territory enacted stern penalties to prevent election-day fraud, coercion, and liquor-fueled chaos.
- The Ethics of the Sting
A century before modern debates on police entrapment, Washington courts were already grappling with the line between preventing crime and creating it.
- The Fight for the First Cascades Rail Line
In 1880, Seattle editors appealed to the 'Walla Walla Statesman' to bridge the mountain divide and unite the Washington territory through trade.
- The Silent Epidemic: Diphtheria in 1880 Seattle
A harrowing, vivid account of the early stages of diphtheria, a 'perplexing theme' of illness that terrorized families and baffled medical practitioners in the Washington Territory.
- The Boomtown Pulse of 1876
A booster’s-eye view of a rapidly industrializing Seattle, where housing was cheap, the bay teemed with fish, and laborers arrived by the steamer-load.
- The House Rules of the 'Magic' Boarding House
A cantankerous landlord lists a set of bizarre, strict, and contradictory regulations for his boarders, from 'pulling off their boots' to a mysterious policy on nightmares.
- An Affordable Dream: A 60x121 Foot Seattle Homestead
In 1877, a lot on Second Street—now the heart of Seattle's high-density urban core—was listed for sale as a private residential homestead.
- The 1876 Pitch: Why Seattle Was Bound to Boom
A booster’s argument from the pages of 1876 explains why the town was destined to become the 'leading city of the northern coast'—and why land speculators could never stop it.
- The Struggle for an Infrastructure of Our Own
An 1876 editorial reflects on the frustration of relying on federal aid to build the Pacific Northwest, urging locals to fund their own railroads and commercial infrastructure instead.
- The Great Coal Tariff Debate
An 1876 editorial argues for high protectionist tariffs on coal to shield Puget Sound mining wages from foreign competition and low-wage labor.
- The Coal Rush: How 1876 Industry Linked Seattle and Tacoma
A historic editorial argues that the expansion of Northern Pacific Railroad coal lines from Puyallup will drive mutual prosperity for Seattle and its southern neighbor.
- The Wages of Growth: Seattle's 1876 Economic Anxiety
As Seattle struggled to establish a foothold in a rugged, isolated frontier, local business owners lamented the 'high' cost of labor and warned that economic survival depended on lower pay.
- The Apple Orchard Dreams of Early Seattle
Before the city became a tech hub, civic boosters saw the future of Seattle in the 'stately forests' replaced by row after row of fruit trees.
- The Shadow Over Seattle's Growth
A look at the 1876 struggle between the promise of development and the ‘incubus’ of land monopolies.
- The Promised Land of Puget Sound
An 1876 editorial from Seattle’s 'Intelligencer' pitches the Pacific Northwest as a hardship-free utopia for those fleeing the failures of the East.