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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 5 |
| 1885 | 8 |
| 1886 | 7 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 11 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 12 |
| 1892 | 23 |
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| 1895 | 30 |
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| 1903 | 6 |
| 1904 | 3 |
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203 stories matching altogeth
- The Unkind Spring of 1892
A biting cold snap across the Washington territory freezes out the fruit harvest and stalls farm work.
- The Perils of Over-Irrigation
Federal experts warn that excessive water usage is turning productive land into barren salt marshes.
- The Cabinet of 1889: A Seattle Real Estate Snapshot
While Secretary Tracy and other federal officials were scrambling to find housing in a bustling, growing capital, Seattle was busy laying the literal groundwork for its own future growth.
- Seattle Council Pushes Back on Streetcar Franchises
Electric railway companies plead poverty to avoid mandated street lighting, prompting a civic showdown over franchise obligations.
- The Masonic Ball Breaks the Social Ice
Walla Walla’s high-society gathering abandons the stiff formality of the coast for a rare night of genuine local connection.
- Stuck Valley Farmers Demand Action Against Annual Flooding
Decades before modern flood control, Stuck Valley farmers sought relief from log jams and the rival interests of King and Pierce county commissioners.
- The Great Pend Oreille Water Grab
A massive water rights filing for the Pend Oreille River has sparked intense debate over the feasibility of diverting water to the Quincy flats.
- The $12,000 Garbage Scow: How Seattle’s City Council Tried to Buy a Trash Boat for Less Than a House
When the lowest bid for a municipal garbage scow came in at nearly $13,000—more than double the estimate—the city council was forced to slash specifications, revealing the tight financial straits of early 20th-century Seattle.
- The Presbyterian Picnic at Vashon Island
A mid-summer gathering of Sunday School members turns the undeveloped shores of Vashon Island into a scene of croquet, baseball, and local amusement.
- The Mayor's Moonlighting Problem
A local newspaper accuses Mayor Ronald of neglecting his civic duties to pursue private legal practice—specifically while defending a client in a case investigated by his own police force.
- The Greasy Pole Gambit: Seattle’s Summer of Slapstick and Sweat
On a sweltering July evening in 1889, thousands gathered at the foot of Madison Street not for politics or protest, but to watch three men fail spectacularly at climbing an oiled pole—a moment of pure, unadulterated civic joy.
- Late-Night Blaze Consumes Squire Avenue Grocery
A two-story building near Lake Street is destroyed by fire, while a neighboring residence occupied by an engineer for the Seattle Steam Heat and Power Company is saved from destruction.
- Seattle's New Fire Engine Wrecked on a False Alarm
Answering a call from the Tremont block, the Watrous engine hit the streetcar tracks between South Second and South Third, snapped an axle and toppled—leaving driver Charles Murray and engineer F. M. Collins lucky to be alive.
- The Battle for Shelton's Mail
Shelton residents find themselves isolated as a local shipping sub-contractor abandons the mail route, leaving the town disconnected from Olympia.
- The Butter Paradox
Why is Seattle, surrounded by some of the world's richest grazing land, importing its butter from California?
- The Land Commissioner Halts the Olympic Highway Land Rush
Speculators are lining up to snap up land along the new Olympic Highway, but State Land Commissioner C. V. Savidge says the state isn't selling yet.
- The Knights of Labor Strike Back in Whatcom
A fiery public letter from the local labor organization dismantles the 'social assassins' and 'poltroons' who questioned their political legitimacy in 1886.
- The Price of a Vote: Seattle’s 1884 Election Costs
A look back at the surprisingly high cost of democracy in early Seattle, where administrative overhead, printing, and legal red tape turned local elections into a financial burden for the growing town.
- Showdown at the Whatcom Land Dispute
A contentious meeting regarding a contested land claim ended in an attempted confrontation with the Pettibone brothers.
- Olympia’s ‘Miserable’ Street Railway Is Holding the City Back
An 1891 editorial demands that the city cancel the Olympia Street Railway’s charter and clear Main and Fourth streets for electric cars, arguing the two rickety horse cars are a disgrace and a drag on growth.
- The Editor Who Guarded the Jail
During the chaos of the 1889 fire, Post-Intelligencer editor F. J. Grant led a militia detachment to secure the county jail's prisoners.
- The Perils of the Road: Early Motorists Lament Terrible Conditions
Vacationing families return to Kennewick with horror stories of busted axles, tire troubles, and roads that are 'the worst on earth.'
- The Ballad of Mrs. Mattie: A Seattle Streetcar Scandal
When a drunken motorman tried to force his way into a woman's streetcar car, the resulting courtroom drama exposed the raw power dynamics of early Seattle transit—and left the defendant claiming he was libelled by the press.
- The Paradoxes' Last Argument
After three years of domestic strife, a Seattle couple reconciles on the eve of a formal separation, proving that sometimes the best way to handle a 'horrid temper' is to tear up the legal papers.
- The Struggle for a Streamlined Seattle
Mayor Phelps calls for a total overhaul of the city charter, arguing that the existing system is far too expensive and cumbersome for Seattle’s rapid growth.