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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 405 |
| 1877 | 280 |
| 1878 | 64 |
| 1880 | 75 |
824 stories
- The Unseen Economic Power of Puget Sound Timber
A local editor argues that Seattle shouldn't rely on distant furniture imports when the region is literally throwing away the raw materials for a thriving local industry.
- The Professional Pessimists of Early Seattle
A 19th-century editorial takes aim at the 'croakers'—the local doomsayers who claimed the town's prosperity was always on the verge of collapse.
- The Myth of the Independent Pioneer
An 1877 editorial from the Seattle Intelligencer argues that the abundance of free, unsettled land in Washington Territory is the only thing keeping local wages high and preventing the labor unrest seen in crowded cities like Paris or London.
- The Unsung Toll of the 19th-Century Newsroom
A sermon reprinted in the Seattle press reveals the brutal reality of working as a journalist in 1877—from midnight shifts and 'fetid alley-ways' to the constant temptation of artificial stimulants.
- The Hustle of 1876 Seattle: A Frontier Mercantile Mosaic
Before the skyscrapers and tech giants, Seattle was a bustling town of blacksmiths, brickmakers, and steamboat agents—here is how the city’s early commerce actually worked.
- The Myth of the Land Monopoly
An 1877 Seattle newspaper sets the record straight for prospective homesteaders: unlike California, Washington Territory is free from the crushing weight of Spanish land grants and speculative hoarding.
- The Fragile Earth Beneath Our Feet
An 1877 editorial from the Seattle Daily Intelligencer warns that the city's obsession with waste and its failure to return fertility to the land mirror the downfall of Rome.
- An Invitation to a Celestial Feast
An 1877 dispatch offers a rare, albeit patronizing, glimpse into the intricate social etiquette and lavish dining culture of Seattle’s Chinese mercantile class.
- The Salt Water Summer of 1878
Before indoor plumbing and private beaches, Seattle's waterfront was the city's shared, chaotic, and joyous summer escape.
- The Brutal Statistics of Poverty in 1880
A report in the Seattle Daily Intelligence uses cold, hard data to argue that the 'reproduction of capital'—human life—is threatened by the crushing weight of poverty and labor conditions.
- The Price of a Home: How Seattle’s Real Estate Market Was Built on Death and Debt
In June 1876, the probate courts of King County were awash with estate sales. As families grieved, their homes—like that of C.C. Teery—were auctioned off to pay debts, revealing a housing market where survival depended on liquidating one's past.
- The Great World's Wonder: Dr. McBride’s Miracle Cures in Pioneer Seattle
A charismatic physician from China has opened an office at the Occidental Hotel, promising instantaneous relief for blindness, deafness, and pain with his 'Concentrated Tea.' While locals flock to witness his 'miraculous' operations, the line between medical innovation and snake oil remains dangerously thin.
- The City Collector’s Year-End Ultimatum
Before the turn of the New Year in 1877, Seattle’s city collector warned residents that delinquent property taxes would lead to the immediate seizure and sale of their homes.
- The Boomtown Hustle: Real Estate and Building in 1876 Seattle
A glimpse into the rapid expansion of Seattle's early infrastructure, where new homes were built 'by the day' and brick yards were leased to meet the hunger for growth.
- A Third Street House and Lot for Sale
Before Seattle became a city of skyscrapers, a simple plot of land between Seneca and University was a common commodity for sale in the local paper.
- The Price of a Pioneer Homestead in 1877
A modest real estate listing from a century-and-a-half ago highlights the stark contrast between early Seattle’s property market and today's vertical city.
- The Midnight Laborer of Seattle’s Waterfront
A rare, intimate portrait of a 19th-century 'night worker' advertising his specialized sanitation services in the growing settlement of Seattle.
- Building a Road for the Snohomish Valley
In 1876, Seattle merchants were urged to build a road to the Snohomish and Snoqualmie rivers to secure trade and accelerate settlement in the fertile bottom lands.
- The Territorial Election: Defining Seattle’s Future in 1878
As Washington Territory eyes statehood, local papers urge a massive voter turnout to secure political clout and prove the region's population worth.
- The Uncomfortable Truth About Seattle's Hotel Shortage
In 1876, the local press argued that Seattle’s lack of quality hotel space wasn't just an inconvenience—it was a drag on the city's entire economic reputation.
- The Industrial Ambition of the Seattle Waterfront
An 1877 editorial champions the Puget Sound as the inevitable future global hub for shipbuilding, driven by the unmatched quality of local yellow fir.
- The Price of Growth: How Seattle’s Economy Faced the Boom and Bust of 1877
A look back at the financial anxieties and rapid development of 1877 Seattle, as the young city navigated the transition from frontier town to an emerging regional market.
- The High Cost of a Pole: Seattle’s Timber Boom and the Workers Who Cut It
As thousands of telegraph poles flood the market from Thurston County, local laborers face volatile wages and dangerous conditions in the logging camps that fuel the city's infrastructure.
- The Engineering Fever of 1876
As bridge-building projects skyrocket across the nation, Seattle looks toward the ambitious, iron-willed future of American infrastructure.
- The Boomtown That Almost Wasn't: Seattle's 1876 Census of Industry
A statistical snapshot of a frontier town on the cusp of a century, listing every blacksmith, saloon, and 'Chinese laundry' in the rapidly evolving Seattle of 1876.