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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 13 |
| 1886 | 6 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 15 |
| 1893 | 15 |
| 1894 | 34 |
| 1895 | 5 |
| 1904 | 1 |
100 stories
- The Brutal Reality of the Black Diamond Ring
A quiet, illicit prize fight in a local hall ended with a forced surrender as seventy-five spectators watched a miner beat a man from Franklin.
- Tragedy at Poverty Bay
A cabin collapse at the mining camp near the Black Diamond coal mines leaves three men dead.
- The Mine Strike That Ended in a Shooting — and a Nonsuit
Washington’s Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of the Thornburn family’s damages suit after violence between striking miners and Black strikebreakers at the Franklin and Newcastle coal mines.
- Acquittal After a Fatal Crap Game
A man is acquitted of murder in the second degree after a street game of craps turned into a deadly knife and gun fight.
- A Mine Fire That Might Never Be Put Out
Black Diamond Mine No. 12 faced possible permanent abandonment after a fire underground, with flooding and spontaneous combustion complicating recovery.
- The Price of Coal and the Cost of Control
When miners at Black Diamond challenged a shift from daily wages to piecework, the company boss opted to shut the mine down entirely rather than negotiate the rate.
- The Picnic Train to Franklin
When the rails finally pushed into Black Diamond and Franklin in 1886, a Sunday school outing became a historic moment for Washington Territory's coal country.
- The Blacklist at Franklin Mine
Striking miners appeal for their jobs after a bitter labor dispute in King County, clashing with the superintendent over claims of systematic discrimination.
- Mining Company Moves to Clear Housing of Striking Miners
The Oregon Improvement Company serves eviction notices to former employees at Franklin, citing a dispute over land ownership and past labor unrest.
- Miners Plunge 70 Feet in Mine Shaft Accident
A broken signal wire leads to a terrifying fall for two miners working at the Oakdale coal mine near Franklin.
- Disaster Averted at the Franklin Mines
A broken cable sends an empty coal car plunging into the depths of a flooded mine, barely missing a catastrophic accident for the workers.
- A Social Break at Black Diamond
A local church breaks with 'sepulchral' tradition by hosting a social gathering that crosses racial and social lines.
- The Price of Coal in Black Diamond
A community mourns a miner killed on the job, sparking a massive turnout at his funeral.
- Dynamite Accident at the Franklin Mines
A miner was severely injured when a makeshift tool used to celebrate the Fourth of July exploded, nearly costing him his life.
- A Coal Mine Burns Beneath Black Diamond
Mine No. 12 is sealed and pumped full of steam after an underground fire. Superintendent Morgans gives it two weeks to prove it can ever be worked again.
- Mining Disaster Claims Young Worker at Black Diamond
A tragic accident at the coal mine leaves a widow mourning her only son.
- Black Diamond Coal Operator Replaces Chinese Workers With White Labor
The operator of the Black Diamond coal works discharged all Chinese employees and replaced them with white labor, a change greeted with jubilation amid exclusionary sentiment in Black Diamond and Franklin.
- Total Loss at Black Diamond
A hotel fire in the mining town of Black Diamond leaves residents homeless and penniless.
- A Fire, a Locked Door, and a Daring Escape
A local reverend barely survived the blaze that destroyed his home in Black Diamond by shattering a window to escape the flames.
- Industrial Hazards on the Railroad
Two railroad workers suffer horrific injuries on the same track within a single day, highlighting the extreme dangers of manual labor in the 1890s.
- Wild West Chaos in Black Diamond
A gambling dispute at an unlicensed saloon in Black Diamond spirals into a shootout, narrowly missing local schoolchildren.
- The White Striker Who Opposed Black Miners, Then Praised Their Community
Three years after opposing the arrival of Black miners at Franklin, a white miner wrote home praising their societies, their Masonic hall, and their Black justice of the peace.
- Dignity for a Forgotten Man
A Ladies' Aid Society steps forward to provide a proper burial for a man found under a train trestle.
- The Price of a Plea in the Seattle Courts
After a hung jury and two days of intense legal maneuvering, James M. Evans, charged with the murder of his wife in Franklin, admits to second-degree murder to avoid a life-or-death first-degree verdict.
- The Boomtown Frontier: A Steam-Powered Excursion into Kent and Black Diamond
In 1885, Seattle's elite boarded a special train to tour the burgeoning coal-mining boomtowns emerging along the Cedar and Green River valleys.
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