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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 14 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 7 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 3 |
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| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 1 |
56 stories matching commonwealth
- The Socialist Civil War
A fiery dispatch from Spokane exposes a rift within the Socialist Party over internal discipline, alleged corruption, and the fight for union labor in city government.
- The Persistent Ambition of Judge Turner
A critical look at a Spokane judge’s relentless campaign for the U.S. Senate.
- The Dream of a Factory City on Lake Union
Promotional copy for the Denny Hoyt Townsite, promising a booming industrial future for Seattle's lakeside property in 1888.
- The State of the Territory: 1885
Governor Watson C. Squire delivers a wide-ranging address on Washington's rapid growth, the need for a penitentiary, and the rising 'anti-Chinese' labor tensions in Seattle.
- The Pony Legislature’s Last Stand
In Olympia, a defiant territorial delegate denies rumors that the 'rump' legislature met to move the state capital away from Seattle.
- The Mother of Discontent: Abigail Scott Duniway’s Rally for Rights
In an impassioned 1878 address to the Territorial Convention, activist Abigail Scott Duniway demanded Washington women be granted the vote, framing the domestic 'insurrection' of disenfranchised wives as a parallel to the American Revolution.
- Seattle Rallies for the Victims of the Roslyn Coal Mine Disaster
Following a devastating explosion that claimed dozens of lives in the mining town of Roslyn, the city of Seattle opens its coffers to support the grieving widows and orphaned children left behind.
- The Unchecked Ambitions of 1878 Seattle
A prophetic editorial from the Intelligencer reveals how early leaders envisioned Seattle as the industrial and commercial juggernaut of the Pacific Northwest.
- Roslyn's Coal Strike Ends—but the Company Wants to Blacklist Its Leaders
Miners have accepted the company's wage scale, yet the coal operator refuses to rehire the dozen men it blames for leading the strike.
- The Lumber Blockade: A Plea for Economic Sovereignty
An 1878 editorial argues that Seattle’s timber and the inland prairies are two halves of a whole, choked by a 'grinding monopoly' of railroads and steamship companies.
- The Struggle for Jury Reform in Early Seattle
An editorial from 1889 argues that the traditional twelve-person jury, while an 'inheritance of freedom,' is ripe for modernization in the new Washington Territory.
- The Price of Reputation in Early Seattle
A local editor defends the city's power brokers against 'malicious' newspaper attacks, arguing that persistent personal vituperation drives away the capital needed for infrastructure.
- The Fight for Seattle’s Soil
A 19th-century editorial warns that land monopolies and timber speculation threaten to turn Washington into a land of feudal tenants, sparking a civic debate on who truly owns the future of the Northwest.
- The Centennial Parade and the Future of the National Guard
A look back at the grand military display in New York as a blueprint for rapid mobilization on the Pacific Coast.
- A Probe Into Washington's Land Deals—With More Beneath the Surface
A senate resolution opens an investigation into how the state manages its school and tide lands, with hints that the real target is the land commission itself.
- The Rambling Village That Wanted to Be a City
An 1876 editorial reflects on Seattle’s humble, sprawling aesthetic, arguing that the lack of architectural grandeur was not a failure of taste, but a deliberate, democratic strategy to avoid the 'unhealthy' wealth concentration of Eastern cities.
- The Lake That Wasn't: A Territorial Identity Crisis
In January 1890, a prominent New York journalist claimed Washington Territory wanted to be called 'Tacoma.' The Seattle Post-Intelligencer fired back with a scathing editorial, proving that the name 'Washington' was not just a political compromise, but a point of fierce local pride.
- The Mayor’s Labor Pact: How Organized Labor Bought Spokane’s City Hall
Mayor Byrne opens up about the 'organized labor' machine that secured his election and warns of a looming anti-Republican coalition in Washington State.
- The Governor Who Wasn't: How a Walla Walla Businessman Became Washington's First Territorial Governor
In March 1889, President Harrison appointed Miles Moore to steer the territory toward statehood, bypassing Eastern political machines in favor of local 'home rule.'
- Whitman's Freshman Flag Raid Ended With a Presidential Sermon on Anarchy
A Sophomore rush on the Memorial Building tower broke glass and plaster—prompting President Penrose to suspend the flag contest and lecture students on class spirit, property and citizenship.
- The Man Who Took the Bribe to Expose It
Representative Metcalfe’s daring sting operation against Senatorial corruption has turned him into a hero for reformers and a target for powerful enemies.
- The Tacoma Land Grab: How Rich Men Tried to Steal Washington’s Senate Seat
In January 1891, Seattle’s press rallied behind incumbent Senator Watson Squire against a rival backed by Tacoma’s wealthy elite, exposing a bitter battle over whether the state would be ruled by its people or its land barons.
- Governor McGraw Refuses to March for Free Silver
Invited to send three delegates to a Salt Lake City convention, Washington’s governor writes a blunt refusal—and says 16-to-1 coinage is not a popular doctrine in this state.
- Seattle's University Pleads for a Building Worthy of the State
An 1895 editorial makes the case that the University of Washington has outgrown its territorial-era quarters — and that the legislature must fund the new campus between Lake Union and Union Bay.
- The Bug Inspector Who Called Himself a Crank — and Warned That Japanese Oranges Could Wreck Washington's Orchards
A King County insect inspector accuses the state horticultural commissioner of botching a fumigation order, then warns that the scale insects riding in on imported Japanese oranges could become "a curse to one of Washington's greatest industries."