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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 5 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 6 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
44 stories matching arc
- The Struggle for Streetlights
A heated debate erupts in city council over a new contract with the Union Electric Company, revealing tensions over public service, penalties, and infrastructure quality.
- Why Seattle Should Own Its Own Power
An 1889 editorial argues that municipal control of gas, electricity, and water is the only path to fair pricing and civic progress.
- Aberdeen’s New Retail Palace Opens in a Blaze of Light
Over 1,500 residents crowded into the new Toklas & Kaufman brick block, marking a milestone in the city's Gilded Age expansion.
- A City on the Brink: Olympia’s 1891 Debt Crisis and the Fight Over Jobs
Facing a constitutional debt limit, Olympia’s city council considers firing the deputy clerk, assistant city attorney, and city engineer—while a motion to revoke the street railway franchise fails by a tie.
- When Wires Crossed: Seattle's Great Electrical Tangle of 1895
A freak accident at 11 p.m. mixed electric light, fire alarm, and telephone lines, cutting off 50 subscribers and burning out equipment across downtown Seattle.
- The Fever and the Fall: Life in a Frontier Boomtown
A vivid account of the psychological and physical intensity of rapid urban growth—and the devastating silence left behind when the bubble bursts.
- Everett's Economy Drive — While the City Kept Paying Boston for Its Water
As officials cut six policemen to save money, the Labor Journal asked the obvious question: why pay a private company three times what publicly owned Bellingham pays for water and lights?
- Tacoma’s Electric Light War
A private power company accuses the city of selling light below cost to drive it out of business—and of a local editor gagging the story because he runs his own hotel plant.
- The $275,000 Plan to Dredge Olympia Into a Deep-Water Port
In 1892, a federal engineer proposed cutting a 12-foot channel through two miles of tide flats so ocean steamers could reach Fourth Street. The price tag was $275,000—and a bet on Olympia’s future.
- Newport Paves the Way: Council Awards $9,841 Street Grading Contract
Fife Bros. of Spokane wins the bid to grade Spokane, Warren, Third, Scott and Fourth streets, while the council also takes up water rates, liquor licenses and street lighting.
- The City That Grew from Timber to Town in 18 Months
A promotional puff piece reveals Aberdeen’s explosive growth: population jumping from 800 to over 2,000, with a $35,000 monthly payroll and the best electric lights in Washington.
- Buy Our Waterworks, or We'll Sell You to a Syndicate
Tacoma's Light and Water Company files its inventory for a $1.75 million city buyout — and a critic notes that the company has always known how to win a Tacoma election.
- Seattle’s Fire Department Answered 197 Alarms in 1893 — Nearly Half Were False
The chief’s annual report counted 98 false alarms, touted small losses, and asked the city for a fire marshal and better alarm wires.
- The Westside Railway Deal and the Councilman Who Didn't Read It
Olympia's council weighed a cheaper route through C. M. Moore's block to reach the Westside Railway—until one committeeman admitted he had signed the report blind.
- The Battle Over the Old Soldiers’ Home
Grand Army veterans accuse the home’s board of planting a hired engineer and laundress to force out Commandant S. E. Street—and they want a judge to rule on the ouster.
- A Packed Council Chamber, a Railroad Franchise, and a Fight Over Public Streets
Newport's city council meeting drew a standing-room crowd as aldermen tangled over an Idaho Washington Northern street-vacation request, a conflict-of-interest accusation, saloon licenses, and an electric-light contract.
- Snohomish, 1898: A Ferry Claim Becomes a Booster's Dream City
A promotional tour of the inland Puget Sound town traces its founding by I.C. Ferguson, its lumber and fishing wages, and the railroad that turned a river landing into a self-described city of homes.
- The Night a Streetcar Powerhouse Fire Left Half of Seattle Dark
A pre-dawn blaze at Fifth and Pine gutted the Consolidated Street Railway plant, destroyed nearly all its cars and dynamos, crippled three lines, and blacked out everything north of Pike Street.
- The City That Vanished: Seattle’s First Real Estate Bubble and the Ghosts of Terry’s Addition
A look back at January 1890, when Seattle’s land boom was in full swing, prices were soaring, and developers like George Dorffel were selling lots in new subdivisions to speculators eager for a quick profit.