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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 5 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 9 |
| 1894 | 7 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1918 | 1 |
70 stories matching scrip
- The Price of Efficiency: Seattle's First Charter Crisis
In 1891, the city government struggled to adapt its new charter, clashing over the hidden costs of 'efficiency,' the payment of workers in devalued scrip, and the professionalization of city services.
- The Quartermaster’s Arithmetic: Scrip, Pork, and Profiteering in Washington Territory
A detailed audit of Quartermaster General W. W. Miller’s books exposed inflated prices, unexplained payments, and scrip issued for vouchers the commissioners had already disallowed.
- The Battle for Elliott Bay’s Tide Lands
A multi-year legal saga over land rights concludes as the government rejects a claim on Seattle's waterfront.
- The Mayor's Budget Warning
Mayor Ronald warns the City Council that purchasing an engine house site using cash reserves will force the city to issue scrip to cover remaining operating costs.
- The Great Seattle Land Battle of 1877
A federal decision sheds light on the messy early scramble for ownership of downtown Seattle, as speculators and the city vied for title to the waterfront.
- City Charter Nullified: Seattle Police Turn to Private Charity
With the municipal charter declared void by the district court, Seattle's police force has been forced to solicit donations from local businesses to keep the streets safe from crime.
- Metaline Residents Fight Spokane Speculators for Their Townsite
A land-office contest in Spokane could cancel rival claims and clear the way for a government townsite at Metaline.
- The Seattle Lawyer Who Argued Both Sides of the Tide-Land Question
Colonel J. C. Haines told one court that Washington could grant title to the Dr. Maynard tract and another that the United States cannot grant title to tide lands — leaving 360 acres of Seattle's waterfront frozen until the supreme court settles it.
- The Great Seattle Land Grab: How the Maynard Donation Claim Stalled City Growth
A legal dispute over the Catherine Maynard Donation Land Claim reveals the messy, high-stakes battle for ownership of Seattle’s central waterfront in the late 19th century.
- The Price of a Growing City: Mayor Leary’s 1885 Fiscal Reckoning
Mayor John Leary delivers a scathing audit of Seattle’s municipal debt, high-interest scrip, and the struggle to maintain public services while balancing the budget of a booming town.
- The Hop Growers' Scrip Solution
Local banks and merchants collaborate to issue IOUs as cash to help farmers survive the harvest season.
- The Struggle for the Snoqualmie Pass
A new wagon road connecting Seattle to Eastern Washington promises to redirect trade currently flowing to Portland.
- City Hall Grapples with Unemployment
Mayor Ronald and the Advisory Board debate potential relief for Seattle workers while navigating the legal limits of public funds.
- The Case for Statehood and Scientific Farming
In an 1876 address to local farmers, W.M.T. McNeill argues that Washington Territory's path to prosperity lies in statehood, agricultural colleges, and the modernization of rural industry.
- Federal Court Settles Tide Land Battles
A landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling confirms that state sovereignty over tide lands overrides private claims, dealing a major blow to littoral landholders in Seattle.
- The High Cost of Paving the Frontier
A rare glimpse into the 1880 King County commission meetings reveals bitter political squabbles over road funding that mirror today's infrastructure debates.
- The Shadow Over the Hop Harvest
A recruitment advertisement for labor captures the simmering racial tensions and exclusionary practices of the 1885 Washington hop fields.
- Railroad Giant Eyes Tribal Land
A local capitalist claims the Northern Pacific railroad holds legal rights to odd-numbered land sections within the Puyallup Indian Reservation.
- The Daily Hustle in 1884: Seattle’s Employment Market
A local advertisement offers a window into the hard-pressed economic life of the 1880s, where employment bureaus doubled as commercial clearinghouses for everything from Chinese hop pickers to ship crews.
- The Day Seattle's Railroad Men Faced Down the Company
After refusing worthless paper scrip, workers at a Seattle railway firm stood their ground and demanded their wages in hard cash.
- The Bitter Election Brawl of 1892
A fiery partisan editorial from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer dissects the chaotic city budget and heated mayoral campaign, revealing the deep political fractures of a young, booming Seattle.
- The Price of Company Towns
A reporter sneaks into a Washington logging camp to expose how the company store system trapped workers in a cycle of debt and misery.
- The Price of Progress: Seattle’s Legal Tug-of-War Over Street Grades
In 1891, the city was forced to reckon with the constitutional requirement of paying damages to property owners before regrading streets, a lesson that paralyzed public works and exposed the city's precarious financial state.
- Seattle Mayor Proposes 'City Scrip' to Combat Depression
Mayor J.T. Ronald asks the City Council to issue small-denomination warrants to pay for sewer repairs, framing the move as a humanitarian effort to provide work for the unemployed.
- The Jury That Called Out King County’s Corruption
A scathing 1887 report from the Grand Jury exposes the mismanagement, dangerous roads, and broken record-keeping systems of pioneer-era Seattle.