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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 8 |
| 1887 | 2 |
24 stories matching bread
- The Deadly Loaf of Bread
A betrayal between business partners takes a dark turn in Semiahmoo when a loaf of bread becomes a vessel for strychnine.
- The Men Who Asked to Be Jailed for Shelter
As unemployment rises in the winter of 1886, the city jail becomes the last resort for laborers seeking shelter and a crust of bread.
- The Stranger and the Starving Boy
A hungry child caught stealing a loaf of bread on a steamer finds an unexpected defender in a kind-hearted passenger.
- The Unseen Cost of Modern Progress
An editorial from 1890 reflects on the plight of the unemployed and the friction between the 'well-fed' and the hungry during Seattle’s rapid industrial expansion.
- A Convict’s Homecoming
A former prisoner returns to Seattle, reflecting on life at the Territorial Penitentiary and the realities of incarceration.
- The Hidden Passenger in the Boxcar
A railroad worker discovers a surprisingly cozy, well-stocked 'home' inside a freight car, sparking questions about the hidden lives of transients traveling across the continent.
- Seattle's Unstable Foundation
Filling in the city's tide lands and marshy spots creates a precarious base for new buildings.
- The Great Clam Bake of 1885
A Seattle party crosses the Sound to Port Blakely, where local Indigenous hosts treat the visitors to a massive, traditional clam bake that captures the awe and appetite of the pioneer era.
- The Bakery Window: A Seattle Child’s Holiday Wish
A young boy lingers outside a storefront, capturing the stark contrast between the city's commercial bustle and the quiet, desperate hope of a child’s holiday.
- The Veteran's Bitter Return
After the community raised funds to help an indigent Civil War veteran, his quick slide back into destitution offers a sobering look at post-war society and the limits of charity.
- The Day Seabeck Burned
When the Washington Mill Company caught fire in 1886, a small mill town was leveled in just two hours, leaving over 100 men without work and a local entrepreneur's life's work in ashes.
- A Frontier Community’s Mercy
After their young daughter suffered a catastrophic burn in 1881, a family in Whatcom County found support from total strangers across the Pacific Northwest.
- The 'Curse' of the Chinese: How Seattle's Elite Tried to Buy Their Way Out of Racism
In May 1882, a local editorial argued that property owners should refuse to rent or sell land to Chinese immigrants, claiming they were bad tenants and a financial drain on the city.
- The Martyrdom of the Needle
A fiery plea from the pulpit for women's right to work and fair wages.
- The Ghost of Fort Steilacoom: Workers Cheated Out of Their Wages
A group of laborers at the new asylum construction site speak out against contractors and commissioners who left them unpaid and used rot-prone materials.
- The Fight for Seattle's First High School
An 1886 public debate over the 'luxury' of secondary education mirrors the modern struggle to fund public infrastructure.
- Hardship and Deception at the Cascade Tunnel
Laborers arriving at the Northern Pacific site find empty promises, cold conditions, and a 'regular gouging' by company management.
- The Pirate Queens of Seattle
How an amateur opera company in 1886 Seattle silenced critics with a masterful performance of Gilbert and Sullivan.
- Governor Squire's Alki Point Picnic
A grand summer outing at Alki Point brings together Seattle's elite, complete with a pavilion feast, sea-side dancing, and a dramatic recitation of 'Old Settler.'
- Bridging the Divide: The Quest to Unite Washington Territory
In 1882, residents and leaders were grappling with the geographic and cultural chasm between the rugged, booming Puget Sound and the burgeoning Eastern Washington region.
- The Mother Who Was Left Behind
A tragic railway accident reveals a painful divide between a social-climbing daughter and her neglected mother.
- The Postmaster Who Refused to Hire Women
An eighteen-year-old applicant details how she was misled and eventually dismissed by the Olympia postmaster due to her gender.
- A Sixty-Mile Ditch and a Railroad Over the Mountains: Seattle Money Goes East
Judge Lewis reports from Yakima: new banks, booming towns, and a plan by Seattle investors to reclaim 350,000 acres of desert with a canal — while 1,000 men push the Northern Pacific's Cascade Branch toward Snoqualmie Pass.
- Riding the Rails to Newcastle: A Journey Through Seattle's Future
In 1883, a Post-Intelligencer correspondent took the new Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad south from Seattle, dreaming of tide flats turned into wharves and a bustling commercial city.