Research the archive

• 1888 ×

1. The Landlord’s Lie: How a Seattle Developer Stole His Own Property

   In 1888, real estate magnate W.B. Bourn Jr. was forced to publish a public defense after discovering that his father had secretly transferred the title of his home and land to another party—leaving him with nothing but a contract.

   Jun 14, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money · Scandal

2. The Front Street Fight: Seattle’s First Battle Over Urban Planning

   In a rare moment of civic clarity, the Seattle City Council rejected a street railway company's proposal to destroy Front Street, recognizing that private profit should not override public infrastructure.

   Jun 16, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerFront Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

3. The Confidence Game on the Kalama-Tacoma Line

   A traveler from Missouri lost his life savings to a smooth-talking stranger on a train, proving that 'confidence men' were a perennial threat to those passing through the region.

   Jun 19, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyTrue Crime

4. The Wild West of Early Seattle Journalism

   A satirical look at the cutthroat world of 19th-century newspaper rivalries, where publishers fought for paper stock and traded insults through print.

   Jun 19, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerButler Block, Seattle, King CountyScandal

5. The Boomtown That Expected to Replace Seattle

   In 1888, the 'Key City' of Port Townsend was convinced its massive rail subsidy and harbor status would make it the primary metropolis of the Pacific Northwest.

   Jun 19, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTaylor Street, Port Townsend, Jefferson CountyBoom & Bust

6. The 'Key City' Hype Machine: A 19th-Century Real Estate Fever Dream

   Before Seattle cemented its dominance, Port Townsend was positioning itself as the 'future great city of the New Northwest,' fueled by a massive, speculative railroad subsidy.

   Jun 21, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTaylor Street, Port Townsend, Jefferson CountyBoom & Bust

7. Seattle's Fourth of July Price-Gouging Panic

   Local merchants pledge not to raise rates for the influx of tourists, as the city braces for a massive celebration and fears being seen as a 'robber baron' destination.

   Jun 29, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

8. The Duke Who Dropped In: A Wealthy Widow Marries a British Peer in Seattle

   On June 20, 1898, the Mayor of Seattle officiated the wedding of Mrs. Hammarskjöld and the Duke of Marlborough, drawing crowds and high-society witnesses to City Hall.

   Jun 30, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

9. The Unlucky Lodging House Keeper

   A woman attempts to rebuild her life at a Seattle lodging house after her husband's attempted murder-suicide leaves her scarred, only to find herself the target of another man's duplicity.

   Jul 8, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMain Street, Seattle, King CountyScandal

10. The Lawyer, the Judge, and the Rowdy Courtroom

    A Seattle attorney’s refusal to follow a justice’s order leads to a standoff, a dramatic arrest, and a courtroom clash that captivated the city.

    Jul 12, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerYesler Way, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

11. The City’s Campaign Against ‘Kitchen Disease’

    Health Officer Miller launches a sanitary crackdown on local boarding houses, targeting conditions deemed dangerous to public health.

    Jul 13, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyHousing & Rent

12. The Unexplained Departure of Mrs. Frite

    A husband’s public notice of his wife’s desertion sparks confusion in Port Townsend, as he vows to never take her back.

    Jul 17, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPort Townsend, Jefferson CountyScandal

13. The Mail is Broken in Seattle

    Citizens and businesses are forced to pay for private clerks because the federal postal service cannot keep up with the city's explosive growth.

    Jul 19, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

14. Longshoremen's Union Halts Cargo on the Manila

    When the steamship 'Manila' docked in Seattle, a labor dispute between the captain and the longshoremen's union left a shipment of cargo stranded and tempers flaring.

    Jul 20, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Waterfront, Seattle, King CountyWork & Pay

15. The Theater That Wanted the Street

    Tacoma’s grand new opera house design sparks a city council debate over encroaching on public sidewalks and creating private carriage driveways.

    Jul 21, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

16. The Seattle Boiler Strike of 1888

    Striking workers reject 'scab' labor and call for higher wages in a booming city.

    Jul 25, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Waterfront, Seattle, King CountyWork & Pay

17. The Unlucky Prospector and the Peril of 'Dynamite Mania'

    While Seattle’s elite returned from an Alaskan excursion, a local laborer named 'Jim' Ward found himself embroiled in a bizarre dispute over mining claims, accusations of sabotage, and a reputation for blowing things up.

    Jul 27, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Local Legends

18. The City Council's Permissive Grift

    A frustrated fire official reveals that Seattle's fire safety ordinances are being gutted by the very council members who passed them, as they issue private permits to bypass building restrictions.

    Jul 28, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWashington Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

19. The Queen City’s Growing Pains

    In an 1888 address, Seattle’s mayor reflects on the city's meteoric population growth, the struggle to replace wooden 'make-shift' infrastructure with modern brick, and the urgent need to expand the fire department to cover the city's steep, expanding hillsides.

    Jul 31, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerNinth Street, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

20. Blood in the Newcastle Mines

    A violent, years-long boundary dispute between neighboring miners at the Newcastle coal fields spills into the open when a man is ambushed and hurled down a steep bank.

    Jul 31, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerNewcastle, King CountyFollow the Money · Scandal

21. The Street Corner Stabbing

    A tavern worker is violently assaulted in broad daylight in front of a downtown Seattle bank following a dispute over slanderous rumors.

    Aug 1, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

22. The Bottleneck at the Port of Tacoma

    While Seattle’s docks are praised for their 'prompt' efficiency, the port of Tacoma is suffering from a two-month delay in cargo loading, frustrating ship masters and hurting the regional economy.

    Aug 12, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Waterfront, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

23. The Unlikely Rise of the Washington Hop King

    How an accidental crop grown in a kitchen fire turned into a Pacific Northwest agricultural empire.

    Aug 17, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerPuyallup Valley, Puyallup, Pierce CountyStrange But True

24. The Fishermen’s Union Versus the Open Market

    An editorial from 1888 examines the tension between organized labor tactics and the rights of individual workers on the Seattle waterfront.

    Aug 18, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay

25. The Strange Case of the 'Woman' in the Saloon

    A perplexing encounter in a Seattle saloon ignites a neighborhood scandal, revealing the tensions of gender nonconformity in the city's early frontier days.

    Aug 23, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyLGBTQ+ Lives · True Crime

Download all 440 as a spreadsheet (CSV)