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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 23 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
57 stories matching burnt
- The Inexhaustible Forests Are Running Out
A look at the rapid expansion of logging in the Puget Sound region, where the arrival of railroads and new machinery is accelerating the harvest of timber once thought to be endless.
- The Railway War for the Snake River
A brutal corporate chess match plays out across the wilderness as the Union Pacific and local navigation companies fight for control of the Pacific Northwest's lifeline.
- Late-Night Blaze Threatens 'Whitechapel' Row
A saloon fire in the early hours nearly consumed a row of wooden buildings, saved only by the quick work of local firefighters and a watchful dog.
- After the Great Fire: Seattle Extends a Hand to Ellensburg
Fresh from the ashes of its own catastrophic blaze, Seattle offers sympathy and aid to a sister city devastated by fire.
- The Great Seattle Fire: A City in Ruins, A Spirit Rebuilding
Following the devastating fire of 1889, Seattle's business leaders, bankers, and citizens mobilize to enforce strict brick-and-stone building codes while navigating the logistics of temporary survival.
- He Loved Her Too Much to Marry Her
Adam Gehm, a Bavarian logger working in Carbonado, shot himself in a Seattle lodging house after confessing to a friend that illness left him unable to provide for the woman he loved. He had tried once before.
- The Great Reconstruction
A reporter recounts the feverish pace of laborers, bricklayers, and carpenters rebuilding Seattle following a massive fire.
- Seattle Rebuilds After the Great Fire
One week after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city pivots from emergency relief to a massive, coordinated reconstruction of the downtown core.
- The Great Rebuilding: Seattle’s Post-Fire Lumber Rush
In the wake of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, the local lumber trade faces an unprecedented surge in demand as thousands rush to rebuild, signaling a massive shift in the city’s economy and labor market.
- A Muddy Victory at Madison Street
On a rain-soaked field, the Seattle football team slogs through the slime to defeat Tacoma in a gritty, mud-caked exhibition.
- Arson Attempt Targets Ballard Hotel
A suspicious fire at the Ballard Hotel was thwarted by a night watchman, raising alarms about safety in the burgeoning mill town.
- The Day Ellensburg Burned
A devastating fire leaves 12 city blocks in ruins, highlighting the catastrophic failure of the local water system.
- The Great Seattle Rebound
A fiery defense of the city’s resilience following the Great Fire, dismantling rumors that the local economy had collapsed.
- The City That Refused to Stay Burnt
After the Great Spokane Fire of 1889, civic leaders rejected the urge to build cheaply, choosing instead to construct a permanent, iron-and-stone metropolis fueled by the river's immense power.
- The Bitter Feud Over a Burnt Seattle Sawmill
A public legal dispute between two businessmen reveals the high-stakes cost of the 1880 fire that razed a local mill.
- The Muddy Arteries of Early Seattle
Decades before modern paving, Seattle’s civic leaders struggled to build a passable road to the Renton coal mines, leaving thousands of settlers and farmers stranded in the mire.
- Guy Phinney's Brick Building Rises First After Seattle Fire
How Seattle’s downtown business district—scorched by the Great Fire—was transformed by private investment into a modern, fireproof city in just over a year.
- The Perils of the Domestic Ideal
A satirical poem from 1882 paints a brutal portrait of the 'married life' trap awaiting the youth of frontier Seattle.
- The Final Tribute to Chief Seattle
A rare eyewitness account of the funeral proceedings for the Duwamish leader and the respect paid by local pioneers to his grave.
- The City Under a Smoky Shroud
In late 1889, Seattle found itself blanketed in a suffocating haze as forest fires raged across the region, yet the determination to rebuild the city burned just as brightly as the timber.
- A County With No Hospital Turns a Private Home Into One
When the injured and dying were thrown on San Juan County's mercy, the new Overseer of the Poor had nowhere to put them but his own house.
- Rising from the Ashes: The Great Seattle Fire of 1888
While the downtown core smoldered, Seattle citizens gathered in the courthouse—lit by tallow dips—to demand a modern city of brick and stone, rejecting makeshift wooden shacks and dreaming of a reconstructed metropolis.
- The Deaf-Mute’s Heartbreak: A Love Letter Written in Silence
When his fiancée left him for another man, a silent young man from Memphis found his voice through ink, delivering a scathing indictment of his rival to a Seattle city editor.
- "That Ticket Has Blood on It": The Night Seattle Was Haunted by a Cursed Bill
A mysterious $5 bill with a death threat scribbled on the back sparked a city-wide panic and a frantic search for two young women who vanished into the night.
- The Man Who Stopped the Sparks: Seattle’s Invisible Safety Net
When a fallen trolley wire killed two horses on Front Street, local engineer W.D. Gordon built a mechanical brain to save lives—and it worked every time.