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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 8 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 8 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 7 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
74 stories matching illumin
- The Ball That Burned: A Seattle Saloon Mystery
In 1876, a patron at John Brendle’s beer saloon discovered that one of the billiard balls was made of highly flammable material, igniting instantly when pressed against his pipe.
- Walla Walla Battles for Public Water
A landslide vote rejects private control in favor of a new municipal gravity system.
- The High Cost of Commuting on the Rails
After seeking work at a local mill, a man attempts to board a moving freight train in Centralia, leading to a life-altering accident.
- A Frontier Debt Still Owed
A legal dispute over unpaid wages from 1878 illuminates the precarious nature of labor and contract in early Snohomish.
- The Tragedy of a Lonely Life in Seattle
A man's desperate act of suicide on Commercial Street illuminates the harsh isolation and economic despair of Seattle’s early frontier days.
- The Carnival Committee’s Riverfront Dream Faces Pushback
A committee proposes a riverfront carnival featuring water stunts and a baseball diamond, but locals worry the site is too far from town and too expensive.
- The Moose Lodge Takes Over Downtown Everett
One thousand members of the Loyal Order of Moose paraded down Hewitt Avenue to mark the rapid growth of the fraternal order in the city.
- The Great Strawberry Heist: A Town’s Sweetest Mystery
When a local dignitary donated an overflowing bucket of cherries and strawberries to the Snohomish newspaper office, they vanished by nightfall—leaving behind only gratitude and a very full belly.
- The Queen City gets a new tugboat
A festive launch of Stetson & Post's new tugboat ends in a brush with catastrophe.
- Fire Destroys Oroville Laundry and Livery Stable
A late-night blaze claims a steam laundry and an unoccupied livery stable in Oroville’s 'old town' after a suspected electrical short.
- The Electrified Watchman
When the Seattle Electric Railway’s infrastructure turned the city into a hazard, a local watchman learned the hard way that his job required handling more than just time.
- Tacoma's railroad 'patron saint' gets a cannon salute
New Tacoma serenaded Northern Pacific director C.B. Wright—and the Post-Intelligencer noted that Seattle had not always been his favorite town.
- Fairhaven Celebrates Its Official Birth
After a long and bitter boundary fight with neighboring towns, the new city of Fairhaven secures its incorporation and throws a massive party.
- Seattle’s Fourth of July: A City Adorned in Light and Iron
As the nation celebrates its birthday, Seattle’s business leaders have transformed downtown into a spectacle of gas jets, electric lamps, and iron arches, proving that the young city is ready for its moment on the national stage.
- An 1885 Delegation's 'Grand Tour' of Seattle
When a Portland delegation arrived in Seattle by steamer in July 1885, they were treated to an opulent tour of the town, a clambake at Port Blakely, and a glowing review in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- The Great Aberdeen Political Rally of 1892
Democratic gubernatorial candidate H.J. Snively faces down embezzlement charges before a massive crowd at the Aberdeen Opera House.
- The Torchlight Mob at Frye's Opera House
In 1885, Seattle laborers and anti-Chinese activists gathered for a massive, torch-lit demonstration to demand the removal of the city's Chinese population, marking a dark chapter of exclusionary labor violence in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Next Governor Hits the Campaign Trail
Republican gubernatorial candidate John H. McGraw receives a hero’s welcome in the coastal town of Ilwaco during a rain-swept campaign tour.
- A Palace on Rails Arrives in Newport
Idaho Washington Northern's new Pullman coaches—steam-heated, electric-lit and brass-trimmed—began service out of Newport, promising a new through line to Spokane.
- The Beacon at the Edge of the World
A rare dispatch from the remote Tatoosh Island lighthouse reveals the technical marvel of the Fresnel lens and the isolation of the keepers guarding the Pacific entrance.
- The Night Kennewick Lit Its Community Christmas Tree
Snow fell as hundreds of children gathered at Second and Yakima for candy, carols and a Boy Scout–guarded tree—with enough left over to send bags to a Spokane orphanage.
- The Clam-Bake Diplomacy of 1885
When a visiting excursion party arrived in Seattle, they were treated to a massive, industrial-scale clam bake at Port Blakely—and the spectacle of geoduck-sized clams that baffled the visitors.
- Newport Turns On the Lights
The Northern Idaho Montana Power Co. is wiring 2,500-candlepower arc lights and tungsten incandescents at intersections across Newport—a $4,500 bet on the town's future.
- The Phantom Arsonist of Queen Anne Hill
A grand residence on Highland Drive vanishes in a blaze, leaving investigators to wonder if a spurned enemy, a clumsy painter, or a spontaneous chemical reaction fueled the inferno.
- The Great Rainier Climbing Debate
A classic Pacific Northwest squabble over who actually reached the summit of Mount Rainier first.