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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 12 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 34 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 23 |
| 1893 | 18 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 5 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 8 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1914 | 4 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 7 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
188 stories matching devast
- The Great Seattle Fire: A City in Ruins, A Spirit Rebuilding
Following the devastating fire of 1889, Seattle's business leaders, bankers, and citizens mobilize to enforce strict brick-and-stone building codes while navigating the logistics of temporary survival.
- The Great Seattle Fire: Building a City from Ash and Embers
In the immediate aftermath of the devastating 1889 fire that leveled the city’s business district, Seattle residents and property owners rush to clear the smoldering ruins and plan a more substantial, brick-built future.
- The Roslyn Mine Disaster
A devastating gas explosion in Northern Pacific Coal Company's Mine No. 2 leaves dozens of families in mourning as the town of Roslyn turns its city hall into a temporary morgue.
- Fire Leaves South Seattle Helpless
A devastating blaze destroyed two grocery stores and a local lodge room because the buildings sat just one block beyond the reach of the city water mains.
- The Ghost of the Eagle Gorge Landslide
Months after a devastating slide on the Green River, a deputy coroner uncovers the remains of a laborer buried by the earth.
- The Roslyn Mine Disaster of 1892
A devastating gas explosion in the Roslyn coal mines claims 44 lives, leaving a community in grief and raising questions about industrial safety.
- Chinatown Ash and Ember: A City Under Siege
A devastating fire levels the Chinese quarter in Tacoma, leaving the community in ruins and stoking the fires of anti-Chinese agitation.
- The Global Hop Crisis of 1893
An Auburn grower reports that 'red spiders' and extreme heat are devastating hop crops from Washington to England, threatening massive yield shortages.
- The Tragic End of Arthur Hislop
A Tekoa man, plagued by chronic pain from an old railroad injury, takes his own life in a quiet, devastating final act.
- The Orchardist’s Hard Lesson in Elevation
After a devastating May freeze wiped out his peach crop, a local grower shares a hard-won lesson on the importance of topography and variety selection for Pacific Northwest fruit farming.
- The Price of Progress: A Victim of the Storm
A devastating windstorm hits Olympia, leaving a man critically injured and highlighting the physical perils of frontier expansion.
- The Forgotten General in the City Jail
A decorated Civil War veteran and Indian fighter finds himself destitute and seeking shelter in a Seattle prison.
- The Perilous Wreck of the Steamboat at Ozette
After a devastating storm, a ship's crew and passengers faced a harrowing survival on the coast, clinging to the remnants of their vessel and the lighthouse keeper's mercy.
- The Town of Oakesdale Is Reduced to Smoldering Ruins
A three-story hotel blaze consumes the city's business district in just two hours, leaving merchants devastated and the community reeling.
- The Phoenix of the Pacific Northwest
Following the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, citizens and local editors debate the path forward, viewing the total destruction of the business district as a necessary—if painful—opportunity for modern urban planning.
- The Political Economy of 'Free Silver'
An editorial critique of the Populist push for silver currency, warning that inflation would only devastate the working class.
- A Community Under Siege: The Whidbey Island Diphtheria Outbreak
A harrowing account of how a single family was devastated by diphtheria in Oak Harbor during the summer of 1887.
- Tragic Hunting Accident Leaves Lake Captain Near Death
While loading his shotgun on Lake Sammamish, a local steamboat captain suffered a devastating injury that threatens his life.
- The Mill That Rose From Sunday's Ashes
Within days of a devastating fire, Whitehouse-Crimmins set 50 men to clearing debris and laid plans for a brick plant that would be running by December.
- The Invasive Species Warning
Local fruit inspectors warn that imported Japanese nursery stock is bringing destructive scale insects that threaten to devastate Washington orchards.
- Fire Loss Fuels Push for City Water System
After a devastating local fire, the city council faces allegations of corruption, backroom dealing, and profit-seeking at the expense of public safety.
- The Great Nooksack Flood
Heavy rains and melting snows have devastated the Nooksack Valley, leaving farmers homeless and destroying livestock.
- Steamer Josephine Boiler Explosion Remembered a Year Later
A haunting one-year retrospective on a boiler explosion that devastated a local crew and passengers near Port Hadlock.
- A Close Call on the Hill
After a devastating nighttime fire in 1877, Seattle residents grapple with the fragility of a wooden city and the lack of basic firefighting infrastructure.
- The Great Balfour Dock Pie Heist
A group of hungry laborers were left with nothing but their pride when two men made off with their dessert, ignoring everything but the pastries.