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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 405 |
| 1877 | 280 |
| 1878 | 64 |
| 1880 | 75 |
824 stories
- The House Rules of the 'Magic' Boarding House
A cantankerous landlord lists a set of bizarre, strict, and contradictory regulations for his boarders, from 'pulling off their boots' to a mysterious policy on nightmares.
- An Affordable Dream: A 60x121 Foot Seattle Homestead
In 1877, a lot on Second Street—now the heart of Seattle's high-density urban core—was listed for sale as a private residential homestead.
- The 1876 Pitch: Why Seattle Was Bound to Boom
A booster’s argument from the pages of 1876 explains why the town was destined to become the 'leading city of the northern coast'—and why land speculators could never stop it.
- The Struggle for an Infrastructure of Our Own
An 1876 editorial reflects on the frustration of relying on federal aid to build the Pacific Northwest, urging locals to fund their own railroads and commercial infrastructure instead.
- The Great Coal Tariff Debate
An 1876 editorial argues for high protectionist tariffs on coal to shield Puget Sound mining wages from foreign competition and low-wage labor.
- The Coal Rush: How 1876 Industry Linked Seattle and Tacoma
A historic editorial argues that the expansion of Northern Pacific Railroad coal lines from Puyallup will drive mutual prosperity for Seattle and its southern neighbor.
- The Wages of Growth: Seattle's 1876 Economic Anxiety
As Seattle struggled to establish a foothold in a rugged, isolated frontier, local business owners lamented the 'high' cost of labor and warned that economic survival depended on lower pay.
- The Apple Orchard Dreams of Early Seattle
Before the city became a tech hub, civic boosters saw the future of Seattle in the 'stately forests' replaced by row after row of fruit trees.
- The Shadow Over Seattle's Growth
A look at the 1876 struggle between the promise of development and the ‘incubus’ of land monopolies.
- The Promised Land of Puget Sound
An 1876 editorial from Seattle’s 'Intelligencer' pitches the Pacific Northwest as a hardship-free utopia for those fleeing the failures of the East.
- The Curse of the Golden Calf: Seattle’s Economic Anxiety in 1877
As banks tightened their grip on local capital, a Seattle editor warned that hoarding wealth—rather than investing in local industry and homes—was a dangerous path to ruin.
- The Election of 1876: When Seattle Held Its Breath
As the U.S. Congress deadlocked over the disputed Hayes-Tilden election, the frontier town of Seattle processed the national anxiety through the lens of political 'vultures' and the hope for a peaceful transition.
- The Push for a Western Migration
In 1877, Seattle boosters and railroad agents mapped out a deliberate campaign to transform the Puget Sound basin from a 'remote' wilderness into a thriving, industrial metropolis.
- The Iron Road vs. The River: A 19th Century Fight for Seattle's Future
An editorial from 1877 argues that the future of the Northwest lies in narrow-gauge railroads rather than the unruly Columbia River.
- The Great Migration North: Why Settlers Chose Washington Over Drought-Stricken California
An 1877 report chronicles the shifting tides of American migration as thousands look to Puget Sound for a fresh start during a season of western uncertainty.
- The Final Journey Home: Chinese Funeral Customs in Early Seattle
A detailed 1877 account reveals the elaborate mourning practices of Seattle's Chinese community, centering on the sacred duty to return the deceased to their ancestral land.
- The Seattle-Walla Walla Rail Ambition
An 1877 editorial proposes leveraging global capital gluts to fund the critical narrow-gauge railway connection, a lifeline for the territory's economic future.
- The Ghostly Tenements of Early Seattle
Before the city’s rapid transformation, Seattle’s housing market was a landscape of cramped, 'little rooms upstairs' and boarding house advertisements catering to the transient laborer.
- The 1878 Case for Buying the Dip in Seattle Real Estate
An editorial from the Seattle Intelligencer advises that despite hard times, the current low prices of labor and building materials make it the perfect time for working families to secure their own homes.
- The Strange Quiet of 1876 Seattle
After the Fourth of July celebrations, the city fell into an eerie, total stillness that unsettled its local boosters.
- The Country Estate as Medicine: Why Seattle’s Elite Are Buying Farms to Save Their Nerves
A satirical essay in the Daily Intelligencer argues that small country plots are not financial investments, but essential health remedies for city professionals suffering from 'trade winds' and nervous exhaustion.
- The Tenement Trap: Why Seattle’s Working Men Should Be Grateful
A local editorial contrasts the comfortable cottages of early Seattle with the squalid overcrowding of New York City's tenements, urging citizens to value their land and labor.
- The Seattle Doctrine: 'Live and Let Live' in 1876
An editorial from the pioneer era argues that local business growth shouldn't be a zero-sum game, warning against the 'vampire' spirit of monopoly.
- The Vanity Trap: Seattle’s 1876 Warning on Materialism
While the city scrambled to build its future, one observer warned that an 'aristocracy of display' was hollowing out the pioneer soul.
- The Forgotten Dream of a Seattle County Fair
In 1876, local boosters argued that Seattle needed a central fair to bring together the disparate agricultural valleys of King County—a dream of connection in a fragmented frontier.