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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 6 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 8 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 6 |
25 stories matching cap
- An Infernal Machine on the Tracks
A dangerous, home-made bomb was discovered on the streetcar tracks in Seattle, chilling a city already tense from labor agitation.
- The Old Publican’s Monopoly: A 1885 Labor Dispute Over Where You Drink
An 1885 editorial muses on the history of spirits and accidentally reveals how local employers used the 'company store' model to control where workers spent their wages.
- The Tragic Finality of William Naff
A Seattle man, driven to despair by illness, orchestrated a gruesome end to his life using telephone company equipment.
- The Day Seattle Became the Center of Washington's Public Lands
When the U.S. District Land Office moved from Olympia to the 'Queen City,' it marked a historic shift in the administration of the Washington Territory.
- The Roses of December: A Seattle Winter's Tale
A traveler describes the mild wonders of Seattle's weather in 1885, reflecting on the region's rapid growth and its promise as a 'poor man's paradise'—if one can handle the labor.
- The Case for a 'Seattle the Beautiful'
A visionary letter to the editor advocates for creating a network of public parks before the city's rapid expansion makes such land unaffordable.
- The 'Pistol-Packin' Girl' of Seattle's Waterfront
A rowdy encounter on the Seattle waterfront leaves a man stunned after a local girl pulls a pistol on him—and fires.
- Keeping the Pass Open in Winter
A bold effort to keep the Snoqualmie Pass trail clear for cattle drivers sets a new precedent for Cascade mountain travel.
- The Boys of Summer: Seattle’s First Big Baseball Victory
In a 1887 showdown at the local race track, a crowd of 400 gathered to watch the hometown nine clobber the visitors from the Willamette Valley.
- The Islanders Build a Sanctuary
In June 1885, the residents of Vashon Island came together to hand-build a new Methodist church with timber from their own land.
- The Day Seattle Marched: Labor, Liberty, and the 1887 Fourth of July
A massive parade of unionized labor, from shipbuilders to coal miners, takes over Seattle’s streets for a patriotic Fourth of July that doubles as a fierce critique of land monopoly.
- The Poker Game That Wouldn't End
A cool-headed gambler refused to stop his hand even as the police officer walked in to arrest the house.
- The Test of the Chemical Fire Extinguisher
A skeptical crowd gathers at Second and Marion to watch a new, pressurized fire-fighting contraption in action.
- Street Robbery Near Hanson’s Mill
A man walking home alone at night is ambushed by a gang on the beach road.
- Spanning the Tide: Construction of the Seattle Bridge
Engineers race to complete a vital, 3,000-foot-long wooden passage across the tide flats, with calls to add safety bypasses for teams and wagons.
- The Railway Reaches the Waterfront
New rail lines carve a path through the heart of the city’s industrial waterfront, displacing old businesses and promising a new era of commerce.
- The 'Dead Line' at the San Francisco Store
Before it became a retail hub, the basement of the San Francisco store in Seattle served as a federal jail where prisoners waited for trial while playing cards and bartering for tobacco.
- The Judge and the Philosopher in the Tank
A local drunk arrested for public intoxication offers a colorful, philosophical defense to the judge, arguing that his lifestyle is a necessary pillar of the city's economy.
- The New Life of a Seattle Street Kid
Once a fixture of the police courts, a young boy explains why he is trading in petty mischief for an honest job at the bowling alley.
- The Industrial Engine of Snohomish
How a trio of Maine brothers revolutionized logging in the Pacific Northwest with a singular, patented invention.
- The Great Maple Valley Bear Panic
When a black bear wandered into their backyard, a frontier couple abandoned their home and fled on horseback to escape the 'ferocious' beast.
- The Wedding of Sally Feet
A rare glimpse into the life of an Indigenous bride and her Chinese groom in the 1880s, amidst the backdrop of strict exclusion laws.
- The Unlikely Swimmer of the San Juans
A stylish newcomer to the island society set shocks locals at the natatorium with a startling reveal about her supposed physical disability.
- The Jailbreak of the Electrician Who Sabotaged the City's Power
After serving months in prison for destroying the Seattle Electric Light Company’s equipment, a disgruntled former employee walked out of the mill in borrowed clothes.
- ‘You Are Hanging an Innocent Man’: A Condemned Killer’s Last Words Before 4,000 Witnesses
Ezra Snoderly, one of the Cummins murderers, is hanged in Dayton’s courthouse square — insisting to the very end that he dies for another man’s crime, while the crowd judges him ‘game.’