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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 8 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1892 | 10 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 7 |
| 1895 | 17 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 6 |
| 1903 | 6 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
95 stories matching conform
- The Railroad Gets Its Street Vacations—and Newport Gets a New Grade
Mayor Appel signs the I.W.N. street-and-alley vacations, clearing the way for regrades, depot improvements and a rebuilt riverfront rail corridor.
- The Hidden Labor of the Kitchen
A late 19th-century editorial critiques the grueling, unregulated work conditions of domestic servants in Seattle households.
- The Tragedy of Owen Hughes
After losing his savings in a series of failed business ventures and railroad deals, an aging hospital steward chooses to end his life at a Seattle hotel.
- The Snowfall That Nearly Wiped Out Spokane Falls
Heavy winter snows caused the near-collapse of two public buildings in Washington Territory, sparking a debate over the need for stricter building oversight in a growing Seattle.
- Architects Cry Foul Over Queen Anne School Contract
A school board vote to award the Queen Anne schoolhouse contract to Skillings & Connor sparks accusations of copied plans, backroom deals, and a three-way feud among Seattle's architects.
- A Deal to Fix Maple Park—If the City Does Its Part
Maple Park's property owners offer to grade their streets if the city fixes the central park—and a plan surfaces to remake the square in front of the new courthouse.
- Council Moves to Vacate the Tide-Land Streets
With city streets and appraiser streets in conflict across the tide flats, the Chamber of Commerce pushes a joint resolution giving objectors ten days to protest before the council vacates the old plats.
- The Great Timber Truce: Tacoma Mills Shut Down for a Week to Save Prices
In a rare display of unity, Tacoma’s logging camps and sawmills have agreed to a seven-day shutdown. While workers face temporary unemployment, the industry claims this 'paradoxical' move is the only way to prevent lumber prices from collapsing.
- The Mediums' Trust: When Seattle's Spiritualists Tried to Fix Their Prices
A secret meeting of clairvoyants and mediums ended in failure as new arrivals undercut their rates, proving that even the spirit world is subject to market forces.
- Dairymen Demand a Brand on Every Pound of Butter
Washington's creamery men move to outlaw rebranded Eastern butter and process butter sold as the real thing — and a leading dealer offers to help write the bill.
- The Governor’s Brick Fortress: W.C. Squire Plans to Reshape Seattle’s Corner
As the territory transitions to statehood, Governor Squire announces plans for a massive new brick block on South Second and Main, signaling his permanent shift from territorial politics to local real estate development.
- Bureaucratic Delay, Bloody Quarrels: The Land Survey That Left Homesteaders in Limbo for 15 Years
Senator Squire demands answers from the General Land Office as settlers on townships 38-40 wait over a decade for their land titles, with boundary disputes turning deadly.
- A Midnight Ride, a Volley of Shots, and No One to Blame
A farmer on the Moran Prairie road hurried home under gunfire; deputies found only darkness.
- Who Owns the Shoreline? Olympia’s Tide-Land Fight
A citizens’ commission debated street grids, meander lines, and property values as appraisers prepared to price the Olympia waterfront.
- Tacoma Fights the Railroad for Its Own Waterfront
At a state land commission hearing, city officials and citizens demand a wider public harbor line to keep the Northern Pacific and Tacoma Land Company from controlling the waterway.
- Washington Kept Dodging Its Own Congressional Map
After the 1890 census gave Washington a second representative, the state spent years avoiding the required division into two congressional districts.
- Letter from a Lost Seattle Pioneer
A former Seattle druggist living in Long Beach, California, writes back to the 'Queen City' to reminisce about the old days, painting a vivid portrait of a town changing faster than the pioneers could keep up with.
- Seattle’s Park Chief Wanted a Boulevard Before the Speculators Got There
In his 1894 annual report, Superintendent E. O. Schwagerl argued that Seattle needed a grand park-and-boulevard plan before rising land values and piecemeal growth closed the window.
- The Dry Party That Wanted Woman Suffrage, Equal Pay and Public Railroads
One hundred and fifty Prohibitionists from thirteen Washington counties met in Tacoma in 1894 and wrote a platform that went far beyond liquor — endorsing votes for women, equal wages regardless of sex, government ownership of railroads and telegraphs, and the forfeiture of unearned land grants.
- Seattle’s First Great Street: How Denny Hill Became Front Street
In March 1877, the city is racing to finish the brutal grading of Front Street, transforming a muddy slope into Seattle’s first grand thoroughfare.
- The Great Seattle Lottery: A $100,000 Sawmill and a Road to Nowhere
In 1876, the Washington Territory legislature authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road through Snoqualmie Pass. The grand prize? Yelver’s Steam Saw Mill. It was a bold gamble on infrastructure that reveals how early Seattle funded its growth.
- The Great Wire War: How Seattle’s Electric Giants Tried to Buy Their Way Out of the Underground
When the City Council threatened to bury power lines underground, Union Electric and Consumers’ Electric screamed ruin. But the real drama wasn't the wires—it was the council dodging a crowd of gamblers and churchgoers demanding saloon closures.
- The Forged Petition That Nearly Paved Second Street—and the Council Fight That Followed
Property owners wanted vitrified brick from Yesler to Pike. Then a signature turned out to be fake, the finance committee cut off money, and the council ordered the work anyway. The city's share: $12,000.
- The Great Hose Heist: How a Seattle Fire Department Was Almost Scammed by a New York Manufacturer
A peculiar dispute over fire equipment reveals the cutthroat world of late-19th-century municipal procurement, where agents played cities against manufacturers and warrants were used as currency.
- A County Treasurer Refuses to Pay a Single Warrant
Whatcom County's Populist commissioners ordered old bills paid out of the new year's taxes. The treasurer said no—and the whole county's finances ground to a halt.