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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 98 |
| 1883 | 511 |
| 1884 | 326 |
| 1885 | 566 |
| 1886 | 361 |
| 1887 | 327 |
2,189 stories
- A Gilded Vision of the Northwest Frontier
Celebrating the completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad, a booster-style manifesto maps out a future for Washington’s 'infant cities.'
- Seattle Welcomes the Iron Road
The completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad sparks a massive civic celebration, promising to end Seattle’s era of isolation.
- Is Puget Sound an Inland Sea?
A landmark federal court ruling determines that Puget Sound is open sea, preventing shipowners from claiming 'inland' liability protections.
- The Path to Statehood: Washington's Bid for the Union
Senator Dolph introduces a sweeping bill to carve a new state from the Territory, setting boundaries from the Pacific to the Bitterroot Range.
- Northern Pacific Railroad Broke Its Puget Sound Promise
A scathing editorial demanding the government reclaim millions of acres from a railroad company that has spent two decades making excuses for not building a track to Puget Sound.
- The Fight for Public Land
Seattle activists organize to challenge the Northern Pacific Railroad's control over vast swaths of Washington Territory.
- The Chamber of Commerce vs. The People
Citizens are mobilizing to protest the Chamber of Commerce’s support for the Northern Pacific Railroad’s controversial land grant.
- The 'Dead Line' at the San Francisco Store
Before it became a retail hub, the basement of the San Francisco store in Seattle served as a federal jail where prisoners waited for trial while playing cards and bartering for tobacco.
- The Great Migration of Seattle’s Buildings
A peculiar phenomenon hits Pacific Avenue as wooden structures vacate their lots to make way for the city's new brick ambitions.
- The Daily Commute: A Seattle Tragedy and the City's Growing Pains
While Seattle leaders focused on the expansion of railroads and the promise of the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway, a grieving mother buried her child, marking the harsh reality of urban development in 1887.
- The Human Cargo in the Ash Pan
A steamship captain reveals the desperate lengths to which his crew went to smuggle Chinese laborers past authorities in the Puget Sound.
- The Shadow in Pioneer Square
A young woman takes a stand against her husband’s gambling habit on the streets of late-19th-century Seattle.
- The Great Railway Land Scandal
A sweeping federal report reveals that major railroad corporations failed to complete thousands of miles of track despite receiving massive federal land grants.
- The Birth of Seattle's Business Power
Twenty-five of the city's most influential men gathered in 1882 to formalize the Chamber of Commerce, signaling a new era of civic muscle and territorial lobbying.
- Turning Stumps into a City: Seattle's Great Transformation
For a quarter-century, the residents of Seattle have been waging a slow, expensive war against the forest, clearing timber, leveling hills, and filling ravines to make way for a modern city.
- Tragedy on the Tracks at Spirit Wood
A broken axle on a work train leaves a trail of injured men and death on the Northern Pacific line.
- The Fire That Starved a City: How a Burning Lime Ship Stalled Seattle’s Building Boom
When the steamer *Yquina* exploded in flames at Pacific Dock, it didn't just destroy $35,000 worth of cargo—it left 600 mechanics without work and halted the construction of a growing metropolis.
- The 'Curse' of the Chinese: How Seattle's Elite Tried to Buy Their Way Out of Racism
In May 1882, a local editorial argued that property owners should refuse to rent or sell land to Chinese immigrants, claiming they were bad tenants and a financial drain on the city.
- The Paperwork Error That Challenged Seattle’s Property Claims
A legal dispute over a real estate deed in 1885 reveals how bureaucratic technicalities—specifically a missing county seal—threatened the validity of early land titles in King County.
- The Unpaid Wages of Seattle's Mill Workers
Employees at a local mill face financial desperation after being notified that their promised wages for two weeks of labor cannot be paid.
- The Political Club That Stood Up to a Partisan Purge
In 1885, a band of concerned citizens formed an 'independent' club to protect the judiciary from political interference, launching a defiant campaign to keep a respected judge on the bench.
- The Railway's Shadow Over Washington Politics
A scathing editorial exposes how the Northern Pacific Railroad is buying influence by handing out free travel passes to political aspirants in Washington Territory.
- The Railroad’s Grip on Washington Territory Politics
A fiery open letter from 1885 accuses a party official of selling out the public interest to railroad companies, sparking a scandal over land rights and free travel bribes.
- The Strike of the Coastal Sailors
Sailors in Seattle and along the coast organize to demand higher wages, leading to a blockade of vessels in the harbor.
- The Ex-Mayor’s Long Road Back to the Courthouse
After three years on the run, former Seattle Mayor Thomas J. Burke has finally been apprehended in Port Townsend.