Same Streets

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71 stories matching street

  1. The Pioneer Struggle to Pave Commercial Street

    Before it was the bustling core of Pioneer Square, Seattle’s Commercial Street was a rough-hewn stretch of dirt and mud in dire need of basic infrastructure.

    Sep 14, 1878Puget Sound DispatchWashington Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

  2. When Seattle Made Property Owners Pay for Street Grading

    An 1878 ordinance reveals the early mechanics of Seattle’s urban development and the 'special assessment' taxes that forced property owners to pay for city street improvements.

    Sep 14, 1878Puget Sound DispatchWashington Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

  3. The Hilltop Slip: Seattle’s Shifting Waterfront

    Decades before the regrades reshaped the city, residents of the Belltown waterfront watched their homes slide into the bay as the ground beneath them turned to quicksand.

    Feb 9, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyDisasters

  4. The Presidential Impersonator of Snohomish

    A local man causes a stir on Main Street, staging a political reception from the porch of the Snohomish Exchange before his performance is cut short by a mud puddle.

    Mar 13, 1878The Northern StarFirst Street, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyLocal Legends

  5. The Great Cherry Street Escape

    A band of savvy business owners nearly outfoxed their creditors by packing up shop in the middle of the night.

    Feb 9, 1878Puget Sound DispatchCherry Street, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  6. The Crackdown on 'Fast Riding' in Old Seattle

    When rowdy horsemen turned Front Street into a racetrack, the city police decided the era of reckless riding in the city center had to end.

    Aug 31, 1878The Daily Intelligencer1st Avenue, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

  7. The Great Mill Street Wagon Prank

    A local hotel runner learns the hard way that the boys of Mill Street have a penchant for mechanical mischief.

    Mar 16, 1878Puget Sound DispatchMill Street, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

  8. The Mud of Commercial Street

    Seattle’s main commercial artery was once a treacherous gauntlet of 'semi-fluid mud' and rats, nearly impassable for the city's horse-drawn wagons.

    Mar 23, 1878Puget Sound DispatchCommercial Street, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

  9. Seattle’s Final Resting Place

    How a fraternal order secured a new burial ground for the city's future.

    Sep 21, 1878Puget Sound DispatchFront Street, Seattle, King County

  10. The Sausage-Maker’s Siege

    A local merchant finds his business—and his family—hounded by a neighborhood rumor mill gone wild.

    Apr 10, 1878The Northern StarMain Street, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyScandal

  11. The Ghostly Exhumation on the Hill

    A grieving widow and a procession of mourners perform a mysterious, haunting ritual to rebury a man murdered in the streets of Seattle.

    Apr 13, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance · Strange But True

  12. The Persistent Pest in the Parlor

    A classic 1878 dispatch on the 'improved' book agent who swears he never bothers anyone—right before being forcibly ejected into the street.

    Aug 14, 1878The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

  13. The Oregon Land Agent’s Smear Campaign

    When a rival state agent spread wild lies about 'timber forty feet deep' and 'streets of sawdust,' early Snohomish settlers fought back to set the record straight.

    Aug 10, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyBoom & Bust

  14. The Wild Foot Race on Commercial Street

    Before the city grew, Seattle’s main thoroughfare hosted a high-stakes sprint that drew crowds to the rooftops and left bettors stunned.

    Aug 8, 1878The Daily IntelligencerCommercial Street, Seattle, King CountyNightlife

  15. The City Goes to the Polls in 1878

    A rare glimpse into the logistical footprint of Seattle’s civic life during the era of wooden sidewalks and horse-drawn carriages.

    Jul 6, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

  16. Seattle’s Early 1878 Council Meetings

    Before the skyline, the city was built on ordinances, grain dryers, and the push for a trans-mountain railroad.

    Aug 17, 1878Puget Sound DispatchWashington Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

  17. The Opium Smuggler in the Beer Hall

    A steamship engineer is arrested in a Seattle saloon, highlighting the city's early, tense relationship with the maritime opium trade.

    Aug 29, 1878The Daily IntelligencerMain Street, Seattle, King CountyNightlife

  18. The Perilous Afternoon of a Seattle Homeowner

    A classic tale of a homeowner's frustration with construction progress takes a literal turn when he gets stranded on his own scaffolding, sparking a tense negotiation with a neighborhood boy.

    Aug 27, 1878The Daily IntelligencerSecond Street, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

  19. The Boom on Front and Columbia

    As Seattle grew in the summer of 1878, new tenements began rising on the waterfront, promising modern conveniences in the shadow of the bustling docks.

    Aug 1, 1878The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyHousing & Rent

  20. The 1878 State of the City: Seattle’s Growing Pains

    Mayor O.A. Weed’s annual report reveals a city wrestling with debt, smallpox, and the urgent need for a real fire engine.

    Jul 13, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

  21. The Pen and the Pistol: A Seattle Saloon Brawl

    When an editor’s satirical writing sparked a public confrontation on Mill Street, a local developer settled the score with a revolver—until his target managed to disarm him.

    May 18, 1878Puget Sound DispatchYesler Way, Seattle, King CountyScandal

  22. The Exclusionist Policies of the American House

    A Seattle boarding house advertises a 'No Chinese Employed' policy, reflecting the volatile labor and racial tensions of the 19th-century Pacific Northwest.

    Oct 5, 1878The Northern StarMill Street, Seattle, King CountyExclusion & Resistance

  23. The Original Tech School of Seattle

    A look back at the Puget Sound Business College, an institution that promised students practical training in the age of rapid telegraphy and trade expansion.

    May 25, 1878Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King CountyGone Forever

  24. The Great Cigar Heist of Front Street

    When a local merchant's inventory went missing in the night, the hunt for the culprits led straight to a city saloon's coal bin.

    Jan 5, 1878Puget Sound DispatchFront Street, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

  25. A Perilous Afternoon near Lake Union

    A brush with disaster in the rugged timberlands of 1877 Seattle, where an accidental axe blow turned a day of surveying into a desperate journey for survival.

    Apr 20, 1878Puget Sound DispatchLake Union, Seattle, King CountyWork & Pay

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