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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 468 |
| 1877 | 317 |
| 1878 | 91 |
| 1880 | 97 |
468 stories
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die: A Seattle Gallows Horror
In a gruesome spectacle that shook the young Territory of Washington, Francis Epps survived his own hanging by mere inches, crying for mercy as the crowd watched him dangle in agony before being cut down.
- Seattle’s 1876 Anti-Chinese Riot Targeted Chinatown
A white mob swept through Seattle’s Chinatown in 1876, destroying property and threatening residents amid economic fear and racial hatred.
- The First Train to Seattle: A Lightning Ride and a City’s Arrival
On June 3, 1876, the Northern Pacific Railway blasted its way through the Cascade Mountains, delivering 100 Chinese immigrants and a crowd of hopefuls to Seattle in record time.
- The $100,000 Gamble: Yesler’s Great Lottery
To fund a mountain road, Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler turned to a massive, state-sanctioned lottery, putting his own saw mill and downtown lots on the line.
- Fire Sweeps Through Seattle’s Cooperage
A morning inferno destroys fifteen homes, leaving families homeless and rumors of child casualties swirling through the city.
- The City’s Panic Over a Smallpox Outbreak
When an infectious disease arrived on the Seattle waterfront in 1876, the City Council and local editors turned to extreme rhetoric, calling for the forced removal of the city's vulnerable populations.
- Arson Attempt Targets Chinese Business District
A deliberate fire set in the basement of Wah Chong's store nearly triggers a catastrophe for the city's business sector.
- The Pioneer Developer’s Gamble
When Seattle was a young, growing town, Henry Yesler looked for an unconventional way to fund critical mountain infrastructure: raffling off his massive timber empire.
- An Indigenous Burial Site Unearthed on Commercial Street
Construction work in front of Mr. Amos Brown’s residence reveals human remains, highlighting the history of the land.
- The Great Fire of Seattle: A City in Ashes
As the dust settles on the inferno that consumed the heart of the young settlement, residents face the daunting task of rebuilding from nothing.
- The Battle for Seattle's Soul: Who Owns the City?
As the Northern Pacific Railroad, wealthy speculators, and the City of Seattle clash in Olympia over a massive land claim, the future of Seattle’s streets and growth hangs in the balance.
- The City That Refused to Drink: Seattle’s Water War of 1876
When the local water company demanded a quarter-century monopoly and the power to seize private springs, Seattle’s leaders said no. Now, with fire risks mounting and growth accelerating, the city faces a stark choice: build its own system or wait for disaster.
- The Tragedy of a Desperate Courtship
A jilted suitor’s attempt to force a marriage ends in violence and a desperate shooting near Seattle.
- The Political Brawl for Seattle’s Soul
On the eve of the 1876 mayoral election, Seattle’s political landscape is marked by accusations of voter fraud, candidate interference, and a bitter struggle for city hall.
- The Wellington Strike: When Coal Miners Said 'No' to a Pay Cut
In July 1876, 70 miners at the Wellington colliery were fired for refusing a wage reduction, bringing the mine to a halt in a struggle that defined labor relations on the Pacific Northwest frontier.
- The Murderer in the Parlor
A frontier tavern killing, a suspicious trial, and a woman who rose from obscurity to the height of Washington society—only to be haunted by a past she thought she’d buried.
- Tragedy in Two Acts on the Cowlitz
A young man's accidental death in the woods is followed by the complete destruction of his family's home by fire, leaving the mourning parents with nothing.
- The City That Couldn't Keep Up: Seattle’s Housing Crisis of 1876
As immigrants flood in from Kansas and beyond, the city's building boom fails to match the demand for shelter, threatening a severe shortage before winter sets in.
- The Vampire Panic of Seattle
A grim, gothic account of a 'vampire' outbreak in a local immigrant community, documenting the desperate, violent lengths to which villagers went to protect their own.
- The Great River Flood of 1876
As heavy rains inundate the Duwamish Valley, Seattle settlers and livestock struggle to survive the rising waters.
- The Unsung Pioneers Clearing the Skagit River
While the territory hailed the opening of the Skagit Valley to navigation, the men bankrolling the arduous labor of clearing the massive log jam were left bankrupt.
- The Great Seattle Lottery: A $100,000 Sawmill and a Road to Nowhere
In 1876, the Washington Territory legislature authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road through Snoqualmie Pass. The grand prize? Yelver’s Steam Saw Mill. It was a bold gamble on infrastructure that reveals how early Seattle funded its growth.
- The Seattle Coal Cooperative of 1876
A century and a half ago, Seattle workers formed a mutual benefit mining company to secure their own fuel and profits.
- The Great 'Zigzag' of Seattle's Waterfront
In 1876, a frustrated editor took on the city's chaotic street planning, where Commercial Street dead-ended into a 'higgledy-piggledy' row of stores, forcing travelers to detour just to reach the waterfront.
- The Mystery of the Drowned Man’s Missing Fortune
In July 1870, Seattle’s probate court launched a frantic investigation into whether $2,000 vanished from the pocket of John Filfe, who drowned in Puget Sound days earlier.