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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 314 |
| 1889 | 785 |
| 1891 | 328 |
| 1892 | 1,308 |
| 1893 | 1,604 |
| 1894 | 1,246 |
| 1895 | 1,087 |
6,672 stories
- The Iron Shed Rebellion
After the Great Seattle Fire, one man defies new building codes by erecting corrugated iron structures in the fire-restricted zone, triggering a city-wide showdown over safety and property rights.
- The Unfinished Business of the Great Fire
Months after the Seattle Great Fire of 1889, local businesses and residents were still embroiled in legal battles over destroyed property and forced evictions from the ruins.
- The Unsolvable Scandal of the Seattle Court
After a grand jury fails to find evidence in a high-profile case, a federal judge challenges the city’s legal elite to stop gossiping and file a formal charge.
- The French Laundry War
When an abusive husband tried to have his wife and her assistant evicted and arrested, he found that the women of the 'French Laundry' weren't going down without a fight.
- The House That Slid Down the Hill
A ramshackle boarding house on Main Street collapses after heavy rains and poor construction send it sliding down an unstable Seattle hillside.
- City Hall's Saloon Showdown
A legislative battle over liquor limits and grade taxes highlights the growing pains of a booming Seattle.
- The Darkest Hour: Temperance Leader Declares Cause 'Dead' Amidst Political Corruption
At the State Temperance Alliance meeting in Seattle, Rev. Clark Davis delivers a scathing indictment of the liquor industry's grip on politics and religion, while Rep. De Steiguer rallies support for Watson Squire.
- The Wild Cow That Ran Amok: Seattle’s First Public Menace
A runaway bovine terrorized the streets of Pioneer Square before being shot dead, sparking a bizarre legal battle over who owned the carcass and whether rotten beef could be sold to unsuspecting diners.
- 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.
- The Stowaway with Seventeen Guns
A Victoria burglar thought he’d outsmarted police by hiding between decks on the steamer *Premier*, but a sharp-eyed customs officer at the Seattle dock caught him red-handed—and found his loot.
- The Engineer Who Had the City by the Throat
In a bitter 1909 standoff over Seattle’s waterworks, engineer Benezet Williams accused city officials of squeezing him into submission after they canceled his contract. The advisory board’s final offer left him with little choice but to walk away.
- Seattle’s 'Black Hole of Calcutta' Condemned
A scathing health department report labels the city jail a public danger, citing extreme overcrowding and poor ventilation.
- The Deadly Cost of Saloon Boxing
Seattle dives are profiting from 'scientific' sparring matches that frequently turn fatal for the impoverished, untrained men forced into the ring.
- Explosion Levels Drug Store on Ninth and Stewart
A pharmacy was reduced to ashes in a late-night fire, leaving local residents trapped in the apartments above.
- The Reverend’s Smuggled Sawdust
A customs inspector discovers nearly a hundred pounds of opium hidden inside a shipment of 'books' addressed to a clergyman.
- The 'Educational Park' That Never Was
When Seattle’s public school superintendent proposed turning the old University of Washington site into a grand, permanent hub for the city’s schools and library, he called it his 'iridescent dream.'
- A Deadly Winter Afternoon on Seattle's Unfenced Sidewalks
While the city celebrated a rare snowfall with coasting, a teenager's death and multiple injuries on elevated, railing-less sidewalks turned the joy into a tragedy.
- The Emancipation Day Celebration of 1892
Thirty years after the Proclamation, Seattle's Black community gathered at the municipal court to assert their political power, pride, and the promise of a unified nation.
- A Reborn Haven in Old Seattle
After the violence of the 1886 anti-Chinese riots shuttered his school, a local merchant defies the lingering hostility to create a space for education and community.
- The Last Request of a Forgotten Pioneer
An elderly immigrant who sought his fortune in the Fraser River gold rush spends his final days pleading for a dignified burial, forcing the city's power brokers to confront the reality of poverty in a booming frontier town.
- The Child Who Danced for Pennies
A twelve-year-old runaway is arrested in a Seattle saloon while performing a wing dance to escape his father's abusive vaudeville routines.
- The Disappearance of Chloe Jackson
A young woman vanishes from a 'devil’s hole' dance hall after a heated confrontation with a jealous partner, leaving a community searching for answers in the shadows of the Seattle waterfront.
- The City Mission's Winter Struggle
A basement mission in 1892 Seattle provides soup, shelter, and strict discipline for the city's growing population of out-of-work laborers.
- The Secret Lunch of the Frugal Merchant
A chance encounter in a 'tough' neighborhood restaurant reveals the hidden economic anxieties of Seattle's business class during a local recession.
- The Trial of the Man Who Named Himself 'Defendant'
A former newspaper man takes the witness stand in Seattle to explain his eccentric public preachings, his 'divine' inspirations, and his rejection of the name Jones.