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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
83 stories matching stark
- A Night of Terror on Seventh Street
A tragic lamp accident leaves a young woman severely burned and sparks a botched emergency response from the city's fire department.
- The Lonely Soul of the Yukon Territory
An 1888 lonely-hearts advertisement from a settler in the Washington Territory reveals the frontier's stark isolation and the desperate social engineering that built the Pacific Northwest.
- Divorcing the 'Unsuitable': Seattle Legal Notices from 1872
Public legal notices reveal the stark reality of marital dissolution in early Seattle, where 'incompatibility' and 'neglect' served as grounds for separation in the King County District Court.
- The Judge Who Refused to Break a Strike
While other courts rushed to silence workers, Judge Henry Caldwell of the U.S. Circuit Court set a radical precedent: railroad workers had the right to strike and the right to be heard.
- The Fiery Wreck of the Enterprise
When the steamer Enterprise collided and burned on the Sound, panic ensued as passengers faced a desperate struggle for life, revealing the stark racial tensions of the era's emergency protocols.
- The Battle for the Yesler Fortune
Legal teams spar in the high-stakes probate battle over the estate of Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler.
- The Curious Case of a Seattle Man’s Electrical Delusions
A local veteran was apprehended for insanity, claiming his body was charged with electricity he caught while living in an asylum.
- The Invisible Laborers of 1891 Seattle
A glimpse into the daily domestic and service-based grind through the classified advertisements of a booming pioneer city.
- Tacoma’s 'Pig in a Poke' Water Deal
Taxpayers revolt against a dubious multi-million dollar municipal purchase of water and electric assets.
- The Tragic End of Peter Legray
A quiet life on the Seattle waterfront ended in a lonely, tide-swept death, highlighting the stark invisibility of the city's vulnerable in 1887.
- The Hard-Won Fight for the Eight-Hour Day
While union machinists in Northern California celebrate a hard-won victory, their counterparts in the Pacific Northwest face strike-breakers and police intimidation.
- Abandoned with an infant, a woman sues for her livelihood
A Seattle dentist’s wife seeks legal support after he leaves her and their child destitute, exposing the stark financial vulnerability of women in the 1887 frontier.
- The Tragedy of Trixey Leighton
A gambling house faro dealer and his mistress are found in a grizzly scene in Spokane, leading to a murder investigation that revealed the stark, hidden vulnerabilities of women living on the social margins of the 1890s.
- The Gallows Awaits a Pullman Murderer
A jury in Colfax has returned a guilty verdict for the cold-blooded murder of William T. Higgins, leading to a stark final judgment from the bench.
- A Monopoly Grabs the Tap
When the irrigation company took control of the water company's annual meeting, local farmers realized their rights to the water were being held hostage.
- The Mayor’s Sidewalk Mandate: Seattle’s First War on Public Infrastructure
In August 1872, Mayor J.T. Jordan issued Ordinance No. 32, forcing property owners on Capitol Hill to build their own sidewalks or face fines—a stark early example of the city shifting infrastructure costs onto private citizens.
- The Intellectual Meritocracy of the East
In an era of intense anti-Chinese sentiment in the West, a Snohomish lecturer finds a startling, counter-intuitive argument for the superiority of Chinese governance: a rigorous, education-based civil service.
- The Great Spokane Tooth War
Advertising dentists battle traditional practitioners over new state regulations and the right to practice.
- The Price of Growth in Early Snohomish
While town elites built elegant homes and secured university futures for their sons, a diphtheria outbreak devastated the river settlements, revealing the stark human cost of frontier expansion.
- The Business of Governing
A crowded rally at the Armory showcases the 'Citizens' Municipal League' attempting to wrestle control of Seattle from the grip of party machines.
- The Sheriff's Auction at the Courthouse Steps
A legal notice from the August 1886 Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer reveals the stark reality of property forfeiture and the machinery of debt in pioneer-era Washington.
- The Boy Who Only Wanted Ice Cream
A young boy's petty theft from a grocery store reveals a stark reality of neglected children in the city.
- The Drunk, The Lecturer, and The Law in Walla Walla
A local drinker makes a fool of a traveling quack in a public square, leading to a trial that turns into a town comedy.
- The Double Standard of Yakima Justice
When three prominent young men were fined for a drunken brawl, the local paper noted a stark disparity in how the court treated them versus a solitary woman arrested for the same charge.
- The White Striker Who Opposed Black Miners, Then Praised Their Community
Three years after opposing the arrival of Black miners at Franklin, a white miner wrote home praising their societies, their Masonic hall, and their Black justice of the peace.