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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 11 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
21 stories matching command
- The City Collector’s Year-End Deadline
With the dawn of 1877 approaching, Seattle’s City Collector issues a final warning for delinquent taxpayers: pay up or lose your property.
- The Unchecked Ambitions of 1878 Seattle
A prophetic editorial from the Intelligencer reveals how early leaders envisioned Seattle as the industrial and commercial juggernaut of the Pacific Northwest.
- The City Collector’s Year-End Ultimatum
Before the turn of the New Year in 1877, Seattle’s city collector warned residents that delinquent property taxes would lead to the immediate seizure and sale of their homes.
- The Schoolhouse Lessons of Old Seattle
A reflection on the struggles of the country schoolmaster and the long-lost, innocent games of childhood in pioneer-era Washington.
- The Farming Pioneer of Protection Island
A bold settler bets on agriculture in the San Juan Islands, finding a thriving home where others saw only isolation.
- The Dream of a Shortcut to the World
A century and a half ago, Seattle boosters saw a Central American canal as the key to unlocking Washington’s timber wealth and connecting it to the globe.
- The Boomtown That Was: A Glimpse of Seattle in 1876
A survey of the territory paints a portrait of a frontier Seattle defined by the roar of sawmills, the promise of coal, and the ambition to conquer the Cascades.
- The Boom Town on the Sound: Labor and Industry in 1877 Tacoma
A traveler’s dispatch from New Tacoma reports on the frenetic pace of local timber mills, the arrival of new industrial machinery, and the rapid expansion of the labor force as the city builds its future.
- The Hilltop Inferno: Arson Claims a Seattle Landmark
When the residence of J.P. Robbins burned in 1877, the city’s lack of water infrastructure and public apathy turned a potential save into a total loss.
- The Potato Famine That Never Left the Sound
A century and a half ago, Seattle farmers lamented the mysterious collapse of the Puget Sound potato trade, marking the end of a boom that once promised regional prosperity.
- The Unseen Economic Power of Puget Sound Timber
A local editor argues that Seattle shouldn't rely on distant furniture imports when the region is literally throwing away the raw materials for a thriving local industry.
- The Sailor Who Mapped the Sound
Rear-Admiral Charles Wilkes, whose 1841 expedition gave Elliott Bay its name and helped secure the Oregon Territory for the United States, has passed away at 76.
- The Most Decisive Juror in Seattle History
A disheveled, reluctant man is pulled from the street to serve on a murder jury, and he reaches a verdict before the trial even begins.
- The Bullet That Shattered a Shoulder and Saved a Presidency
A curious historical note in the Daily Intelligencer reveals that President James A. Garfield’s fatal wound was not from a duel, but a tragic accident during a Civil War skirmish—while his predecessor Hayes suffered a broken leg from a fall.
- The Day Seattle Woke Up: A Traveler’s Rave Review of the 'Metropolitan' Future
In July 1870, a San Francisco correspondent returns from a voyage down the coast and is stunned by the rapid transformation of his hometown into a booming commercial hub.
- The Rambling Village That Wanted to Be a City
An 1876 editorial reflects on Seattle’s humble, sprawling aesthetic, arguing that the lack of architectural grandeur was not a failure of taste, but a deliberate, democratic strategy to avoid the 'unhealthy' wealth concentration of Eastern cities.
- The Battle for Lake Union: A War of Words Over Seattle’s First Public Road
In May 1877, a bitter public feud erupted between the newly appointed Supervisor of Road District No. 1 and a group of influential local voters over the legal authority to build a road along the west shore of Lake Union.
- The Star System: How Actors Made Millions (and Squandered Them)
A detailed breakdown of theatrical salaries reveals that while some stars like John E. Owens amassed fortunes through prudence, others like Edwin Booth lived on the edge of bankruptcy despite earning thousands a week.
- The Unawakened Giant: Why Washington Territory Is the Next California
A sweeping editorial in the *Diligent Intelligencer* argues that railroads are about to unlock the 'inland basin' of Eastern Washington, transforming it from a feared desert into an agricultural empire rivaling the Golden State.
- The Father Who Stopped a Play to Steal His Daughter
A wealthy Indianapolis patriarch tracks his romantic daughter to Seattle in 1876, only to find she has eloped with a lawyer and vanished into the West.
- The Moss-Cloaked Giants of Bay Center
A teacher’s letter from the Pacific Northwest frontier describes a landscape of colossal trees and lush undergrowth, challenging the myth of the harsh pioneer struggle.