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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 8 |
| 1872 | 110 |
| 1876 | 122 |
| 1877 | 92 |
| 1878 | 208 |
| 1879 | 10 |
| 1880 | 59 |
609 stories
- The Iron-Spoke Innovation of 1876
A radical new design in carriage wheels promises a smoother, sturdier ride for Seattle’s muddy, nascent streets.
- Gambling over God: A Seattle Moral Crisis in 1878
A local editor wrestles with a report claiming Seattle's 'cosmopolitan' nature had left its churches empty while its poker tables stayed crowded.
- The Great Greenback Tug-of-War
A Seattle reader squares off against national editors over the power of the government to define the value of money itself.
- The Promised Land of Eastern Washington
A look at the thriving agricultural output of the territory's interior as a draw for new settlers.
- The Miracle Cure-Alls of 1870s Seattle
Before modern medicine, newspaper columns were filled with aggressive marketing for 'Pain Eradicators' and 'Radical Cures' that promised to fix everything from catarrh to death itself.
- The Price of Printing: A 19th Century Fight Against 'Cheap John' Contracting
An editorial from the 1873 Seattle Dispatch excoriates the municipal habit of awarding city printing contracts to the lowest bidder, arguing it degrades the press and serves only the interests of 'ward demagogues.'
- The Seattle Dream Home of 1872
A real estate listing offers a glimpse of modest, mid-19th-century frontier living near the original Seattle townsite.
- The City’s Coldest Tea: A Prohibition-Era Poke at Seattle’s Saloon Culture
A satirical notice from 1871 captures the tongue-in-cheek public grumbling that followed the closure of a beloved watering hole.
- The Great 'Old Junction' Saloon Scandal of 1871
When the city's most beloved watering hole shut its doors, 10,000 disgruntled Seattleites felt the thirst.
- The Great Seattle Heatwave of 1876: Sunstroke Claims Lives as City Swelters
While the nation fixates on Custer’s Last Stand and political deadlocks in Washington D.C., Seattle is locked in a silent, deadly battle against an unrelenting July heatwave that is proving fatal to its residents.
- The Sheriff’s Hammer: A King County Farm Sold for Debt in the Heart of Seattle
In August 1875, the King County Sheriff stood on the courthouse steps to auction off a stranger's land to satisfy a judgment, turning the nascent town's civic center into a marketplace for foreclosures.
- The Divorce of a Pioneer: A Legal Battle in King County
In the early days of Seattle, legal proceedings were public record. This summons reveals the gritty reality of marriage dissolution in 1876, where 'abandonment' was a grounds for divorce and the courts were one of the few places to settle domestic disputes.
- Sunday Refreshments at the Yesler Pleasure Garden
A look at the popular 1870s recreational spot where Seattle residents found relief, music, and ice cream on their days off.
- Spanning the Black River
As Seattle grew in 1877, the County Commissioners sought to replace a private ferry with a permanent crossing over the now-vanished Black River.
- The Unsettled Estate on the Edge of Lake Union
A legal notice from 1877 reveals the struggle of a widow attempting to settle a deceased spouse's debts by liquidating land near the wild, undeveloped frontier of Seattle's Lake Union.
- The Closing of a Pressroom Era
As the Seattle economy shifts, a local printer liquidates his entire inventory, marking the end of a small-scale business in a growing territory.
- A Frontier Homestead Lost to Debt
When a small-scale farm on the outskirts of 1880 Seattle becomes a casualty of high-interest credit, the Sheriff moves in to settle the accounts.
- The Business of Veterans' Benefits in 1880s Seattle
An advertisement for a local attorney reveals the complex bureaucracy of settling Civil War military land claims and homestead rights for pioneers in the Washington Territory.
- The Legal Scramble for a Seattle Property Claim
A standard legal notice in the Seattle Weekly Intelligencer reveals the tense, high-stakes nature of territorial property disputes in 1880.
- The Myth of the 'Frozen' Northwest
An 1877 dispatch to a San Francisco newspaper explains the 'warm belt' of air—the Japan Current—that kept Puget Sound from being a frozen wasteland.
- The 'Veneer and Sham' of 19th Century Schooling
A historic critique of a curriculum overstuffed with 'smatterings' and fancy subjects, arguing that public schools were failing to provide the basic, useful education required for life.
- The New Era of Women in the Workplace
A glimpse into 1875 Liverpool shows women claiming their space in commerce, prompting a reflection on the future of labor in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Agony of Fashionable Feet
A traveler reflects on the misery of tight-fitting boots, finding in them a metaphor for the 'tight shoes of the soul' that burden our daily lives.
- The Roller Rink That Saved Seattle’s Winter Evenings
Before the city lights were bright, the local Pavilion offered a refuge from the damp, offering lessons and laughter to the residents of 1872 Seattle.
- The Price of Survival in 1871 Seattle
A rare glimpse into the grocery and labor economy of the Washington Territory through the lens of a local market report.