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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 4 |
31 stories matching gutter
- The Stinking Gutters of 1876
While Seattle promoters bragged of a salubrious climate, a local newspaper editorial exposed the reality of deadly, stagnant cesspools lining the streets.
- The Price of Neglect: Seattle’s Summer Stench
In 1876, the Duly Intelligencer called out the city for ignoring stagnant, disease-breeding gutters in the business district, warning that the 'healthiest city on the coast' was becoming a hotbed for fever.
- City Orders Poorly Laid Paving Ripped Up
A commissioner rejects the work of the Barber Asphalt Company for insufficient concrete foundations on North End streets.
- The Beach Road That Wasn't: Seattle’s First Infrastructure Crisis
In May 1877, the *Seattle Daily Intelligencer* sounded the alarm over the deteriorating condition of the city's primary artery to the waterfront, blaming poor drainage and a lack of gravel for turning the vital thoroughfare into a muddy trough.
- The End of the Chain Gang in Seattle
City officials move to retire the practice of using prisoners for manual street labor, shifting to rock-breaking in a bid to deter professional tramps.
- Half-Finished Streets and a Man-Trap on Main: The Tribune Takes the City to Task
On the morning of a council meeting, Olympia's paper catalogues the abandoned plank road, the blocked gutters, the depot sidewalk rotting for two weeks, and a hole in Main Street waiting to cost the city money.
- A Near-Death Fall at the Mount Si Hotel
While working on a hotel construction project in Snoqualmie, a man miraculously survives a thirty-four-foot plunge after a scaffold gives way.
- The Conductor Who Fought Back
A Great Northern conductor uses his fists to fend off two muggers he recognized from his days on the rail lines.
- The Great Population Bluff of 1887
A scathing editorial exposes how local politicians inflated King County’s census data, revealing the long history of 'boosterism' in Seattle's growth.
- The Hypnotic Lothario of Tacoma
A wealthy widow discovers that her 'handy' boarder was a con man who used alleged hypnotic powers to swindle her and charm local women.
- 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.
- The Great Tacoma Brick Famine
A supply chain crisis at a Renton monopoly grinds Tacoma’s infrastructure projects to a halt.
- The Price of a Filthy City
In 1877, Seattle editors warned that stagnant water and neglected gutters were more than just a nuisance—they were a matter of life and death.
- The Rowdy Landlords of Ninth and Elph
A morning disturbance at a Tacoma boarding house reveals a volatile scene when a constable attempts to serve an arrest warrant.
- The Political Funeral of Whitman County Populism
Local reformers attempt to bury the Populist party and replace it with a new, direct legislation movement.
- The Great Cabbage Scandal
A citizen defends the public market against charges of unsanitary conditions, pointing the finger at local grocers instead.
- The Redemption of a Drunkard
A harrowing night of domestic violence and neglect ends a decade later in an unexpected act of grace.
- The Tramp Economy of Early Seattle
A reporter encounters a 'bummer' among the weeds of Mission Bay, revealing the harsh, transient reality of laborers who roamed the Pacific Coast in the 1870s.
- Spiritualism on Trial in Yakima
A witness defends the authenticity of a recent séance, describing illuminated spirits and physical manifestations in a cabinet séance.
- The Road to Prosperity Is Still a Sea of Mud
A Calispel Valley correspondent presses Newport to fix the Bobier Hill grade, widen the wagon roads, and treat farmers as more than an afterthought.
- The Anatomy of a 'Drunk' in 1883
A local observer breaks down the social mechanics of the saloon-crawl, from the first casual invitation to the inevitable collapse on the floor.
- They Burned Letters to the Dead on Ayer's Hill
Olympia's Chinese community gathered at a hillside cemetery in 1891 to honor eight departed countrymen with roast pork, red candles, wine and paper messages sent into the next world.
- The Great Dayton Fire: A Block of Ashes and a City’s Near Miss
On the night of April 2, 1882, flames consumed three blocks in downtown Dayton, Washington. While the town paid with its buildings, Seattle’s own fire department narrowly escaped disaster thanks to a single force pump.
- Chehalis Bets on Condensed Milk
A Tacoma company picks Chehalis for a new milk-condensing factory, and local farmers get a pitch to supply it.
- The Saloon Ordinance and the 'Back Door' Scandal
Seattle City Council members clash over zoning laws for liquor licenses, with accusations of bribery and political maneuvering threatening to shut down saloons in key districts.