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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1910 | 1 |
42 stories matching reconstruct
- Railroad vs. Waterfront: The 'Ram's Horn' Dispute
Property owners along the Seattle waterfront push back against railroad companies attempting to rebuild tracks on disputed, long-dormant rights-of-way.
- The Great Seattle Fire: A Call to Rebuild
In the shadow of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, a local editor calls for unity, resilience, and an end to public complaining as the city begins the monumental task of reconstruction.
- 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 Great Reconstruction: Seattle’s Call to Rebuild After the Fire
In the shadow of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, the local press urged citizens to avoid political apathy and prioritize public-spirited leadership during the upcoming municipal election to ensure the city's resurgence.
- The City That Wasn't: Seattle’s First Real Estate Scam
In April 1876, a man named Charles Smith claimed to own the entire town of Seattle and tried to sell it to investors. The local press exposed him as a fraud, but his audacity reveals how fragile the young city's land titles were.
- The Rapid Rise of a City from the Ashes
After a devastating fire nearly destroyed Spokane, the community bypassed despair, opting instead for an immediate, high-velocity reconstruction effort that saw the city rising before the smoke had even cleared.
- 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 Hillside Fell Into the Columbia—and Took the Railroad With It
Forty acres of mountain slid into the Columbia near Marcus, wrecking miles of the Spokane Falls & Northern and cutting Stevens County off from its markets.
- Bondholders Ask Seattle for More Track, More Time
With Pike Street paving looming, the receiver and first-mortgage bondholders of the Lake Street railway seek a longer franchise to reorganize, rebuild and keep the line solvent.
- 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 Water Department War: Seattle’s Ex-Superintendent Says the City Burned $15,000
W. E. Wilson takes his successor to task over pumping-station costs, missing pipe miles, and a board of public works appointment he calls the reward for fiscal failure.
- The Confederate Major Who Set Type in Seattle
A German-born printer who saw Fort Sumter bombarded and later joined Seattle's typographical union died at Providence Hospital, taking an improbable Civil War past with him.
- The River vs. The Rails: Walla Walla’s Plea for a Seattle Link
In 1877, Eastern Washington leaders warned that relying on the Columbia River was a fatal mistake, urging the federal government to subsidize a railroad connecting their region directly to Seattle.
- Seattle's School Board Votes $400,000 in Bonds—and Pockets the Audit Demand
The board funds a debt, hears charges that thousands were mismanaged, then lets an audit resolution die for lack of a second.
- Whatcom's Democrats Eat Their Own: 'Thieves, Fakirs and Impostors'
A county Democratic club meets to denounce its own officeholders — accusing a candidate of selling his nomination to the highest bidder and the party machine of swapping votes for cash — until a motion to adjourn ends the night in pandemonium.
- A Damning Report on Seattle's Water Works
A Chamber of Commerce committee found a hastily built municipal water system, political patronage and missing maps—and urged Seattle to hire a professional engineer at $5,000 a year.
- Seattle's Fire Chief Accused as the Council Wrestles a Telephone Franchise and a Paving Bill
Both houses of the city council meet late into the night: charges that Chief Hunt holds office under false pretenses, a twenty-five-year franchise for the Seattle Home Telephone Company, and a fight over who pays for the sick and injured.