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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 Chehalis Inferno
A devastating blaze sweeps through four blocks of wooden buildings, leaving residents to wonder if firebugs are to blame for the city's second disaster in two months.
- The Disappearing Mill Owner
A Lewis County lumberman vanishes after a devastating factory fire, leaving his brothers to search for him in a desperate, cross-state manhunt.
- A Night of Ruin: Olympia’s Business District Ravaged by Fire
A catastrophic blaze tears through a full city block in Olympia, leaving shopkeepers and residents devastated in its wake.
- The Day Ellensburg Burned
A devastating fire leaves 12 city blocks in ruins, highlighting the catastrophic failure of the local water system.
- The Battle for the White River Valley
Farmers rally against a plan to divert the White River, fearing a return to the devastating floods that ruined their land.
- A $60,000 Fire Devastates Valley: Livery Stable Blaze Spreads Through Town
A wind-whipped fire that began in a livery stable destroyed a general store, a saloon, and a residence, leaving insurance far short of losses.
- A Devastating Betrayal in Marriage
An elderly woman sues for divorce and the recovery of her property after her husband allegedly swindled her and threatened her life.
- The Day the Slash Hills Burned
A devastating fire sweeps through the rural settlement, consuming homes, crops, and winter stores, leaving families to pick through the ashes.
- Rising from the Embers: Ellensburg's Rapid Rebirth
After a devastating fire consumed the heart of the city in July 1889, the community transformed from a charred wasteland into a brick-fronted city in just two months.
- The Great Olympia Mill Fire: A City's Heart Stolen by Flame
In the early hours of October 16, 1876, a devastating fire consumed the steam sawmill and all its property in Olympia, Washington Territory, leaving the community to wonder how they will replace their primary source of timber processing.
- Seattle Rallies for the Victims of the Roslyn Coal Mine Disaster
Following a devastating explosion that claimed dozens of lives in the mining town of Roslyn, the city of Seattle opens its coffers to support the grieving widows and orphaned children left behind.
- Kennewick's Close Encounter with the Great War
An editorial reflecting on the sudden, violent onset of World War I and the fear of its reach into a small Washington town.
- The Brutal Genie of the River Valley
An 1876 editorial reflects on the cyclical devastation of Washington’s river floods and why farmers never seem quite ready for the waters to rise.
- Rising from the Ashes
How Snohomish views the devastating Great Seattle Fire and its own precarious growth.
- The Town That Was Too Indifferent for Fire Protection
After a devastating blaze nearly wiped out a city block, the Leavenworth Echo urged residents to trade frontier luck for modern infrastructure.
- The Battle for Belltown's Fire Engine
A citizen's fiery demand that the city stop hoarding firefighting resources in the business district and grant the northern residents the protection they pay for.
- The Hop Blight Crisis
A report from London suggests that English hop growers are facing a devastating infestation of lice, prompting local Seattle merchants to prepare for a surge in demand for Washington-grown hops.
- The Unseen Perils of the Puget Sound Fog
An experienced mariner describes the harrowing reality of navigating steamships through the thick, impenetrable mists of the late 19th-century Sound.
- The Fever and the Fall: Life in a Frontier Boomtown
A vivid account of the psychological and physical intensity of rapid urban growth—and the devastating silence left behind when the bubble bursts.
- The Misery of the Miser’s Hoard
A destitute family in 1870s Seattle survives a devastating house fire only to unearth a fortune hidden beneath the ashes of their former home.
- The Great Seattle Fire Erased Our Roots
An early record of Seattle’s vanished architecture and the displacement of its first churches following the devastating 1889 fire.
- The Rapid Rise of a City from the Ashes
After a devastating fire nearly destroyed Spokane, the community bypassed despair, opting instead for an immediate, high-velocity reconstruction effort that saw the city rising before the smoke had even cleared.
- The Great Grasshopper Panic: Why Washington Farmers Are Bracing for a Locust Apocalypse
Professor Riley predicts an unprecedented crop of grasshoppers across the Northwest and beyond, urging immediate preparation as eggs hatch in offices from Minnesota to Missouri.
- The Tragedy on Trestle No. 4
A father's desperate attempt to walk his children to safety during a heavy snowstorm ends in a devastating train accident on the outskirts of Tacoma.
- Rising from the Ashes: A Seattle Sawmill's Rapid Rebirth
After a devastating fire, the Stetson & Post Mill Company leverages modern fire-safety technology and local community support to rebuild better than before.