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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1892 | 5 |
| 1893 | 13 |
| 1894 | 29 |
| 1895 | 16 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
65 stories matching thomson
- City Engineer Fires Bachelors to Save Money
In a wave of municipal cost-cutting, Seattle's city engineer decides that single men are the first to be let go.
- Prehistoric Forest Unearthed Beneath Seattle Streets
Construction on the south sewer tunnel reveals evidence of a buried forest floor deep beneath the city's surface.
- The Unintended Neighborhood
Survey errors leave houses in the middle of streets and neighbors at odds over property lines.
- The 'Hard Times' Social in Black Diamond
Coal miners and their families in Black Diamond held a 'Hard Times' social, where the most bedraggled costumes were awarded prizes, offering a brief moment of levity during a period of economic strain.
- The Great Sewer Bond Debate
A convention of the City Council debates the funding of main sewers versus lateral lines, with health and civic honor on the line.
- The Street That Couldn't Be Finished
Property owners on Deeatnr Street face losing their homes to the city treasurer over an unfinished grading project that the city legally cannot complete.
- City Engineer Axes Staff Amidst Financial Crisis
A local corruption scandal involving a 'defalcation' leaves the city unable to pay for essential infrastructure, forcing layoffs in the engineer's office.
- Seattle’s Sewer Construction Hits a Wall
A report from the City Engineer exposes significant budget overruns and administrative errors in the 1893 sewer bond projects, forcing an immediate halt to construction.
- The Battle of the West Street Crossing
A lone police officer stands his ground against a railroad crew in a decades-long property dispute.
- Olympia's Electric Road Begins With a Land Drive
The Olympia Electric Light Power Company wants land donations for a streetcar line, while engineers prepare to grade Main Street from 26th to 29th.
- A 'Close Combination' at the Courthouse: Surveyor Accuses King County's Ring of Self-Dealing
King County's surveyor says commissioners paid the prosecuting attorney's rent to their own chairman's Union Block while refusing to cover his office — and he names the men he says run the courthouse for themselves.
- One Street, Eight Names: The Tide-Land Map That Broke Seattle's Addresses
When the tide-land appraisers published their new plat, they named the filled waterfront after the states and the big cities — ignoring every street already on the ground. City Engineer Thomson's renaming scheme collapsed on the spot.
- City Hall's Battle Over the Sewers
Seattle's new city engineer clashes with the Board of Public Works over questionable construction projects and a lack of 'practical common sense.'
- Defective Sewer Construction in the Third Ward
Accusations of corruption and shoddy craftsmanship arise as city officials are caught using undersized rods and poor brickwork on public projects.
- The Mystery of the Missing Railroad Track
A civil engineer's discovery threatens to derail the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad's land claim in downtown Seattle.
- The Sewer Scandal and the 'Pull' of the Democratic Machine
Testimony in the investigation of city official Jesse Cochran reveals a culture of backroom deals, sub-standard materials, and patronage hiring within the city's public works department.
- The Struggle to Flatten Seattle's Hills
Business owners in the North End push to regrade the city’s steep streets, hoping to spur economic growth and bridge the gap between Pike and Blanchard streets.
- The White-and-Gold Trolleys That Would Link Olympia and Tumwater
In February 1892, Olympia Light & Power awarded a $70,000 contract for a four-mile electric street railway from Ayer's Hill to Tumwater—built with local labor and Pullman-style cars.
- The Sewers Were Cracking — And Seattle Wanted to Know Why
City engineers trace a rash of shattered pipes to Ballard and Olympia, and to the manufacturers who made them.
- The Bosses' Sewer Scheme
When an investigation into a brick-buying scandal threatened city officials, they turned to the very workers they employed to save their reputations.
- The Merchants' National Bank Trial
Four former officers of a failed Tacoma bank went on trial for false entries and misapplied funds, with prominent lawyers and a careful judge shaping the case.
- The Steamboat Inspector's Reckoning
Capt. Bryant admits free rides, denies bribery, and trades accusations with the pilots and captains who want him removed from the Seattle inspection office.
- Four Railroads, One Street Grid, and a Deal Seattle Had to Approve
Great Northern, Northern Pacific and rival lines nearly settle how their tracks will cross south of downtown—if the city council will rewrite their franchises.
- The City Will Pave First Avenue—Cable Tracks or Not
Seattle's street committee orders brick pavement from Yesler to Pike and threatens to pave straight over the Front Street Cable Company's sagging rails if the company won't pay to raise them.
- City Hall Sewer Scandal Claims Another Victim
A foreman is fired after refusing to yield control of a North Seattle sewer tunnel to an unqualified, politically appointed successor.