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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 29 |
| 1877 | 24 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 8 |
63 stories matching consider
- The Hidden Destroyer of Seattle’s Waterfront
In 1877, Seattle property owners faced a silent maritime menace: a wood-boring mollusk called the 'Teredo' that could collapse a wharf from the inside out.
- The Lawyer, the Boy, and the Five-Cent Lesson
A shrewd Seattle attorney tests a boy’s integrity with a lesson in promissory notes and the value of a promise.
- The War That Shook Seattle’s Wallet: How European Conflict Spiked Wheat Prices
While the rest of the world braced for war in the Balkans, Seattle merchants watched their profits soar as panic buying drove wheat prices to historic highs.
- Vandals Wreck Indian Canoe
Youths on the Seattle waterfront destroy an Indigenous person's boat for sport.
- Tragedy Across the River
A Snohomish family loses everything to a fire while attending a funeral.
- The Midnight Concertina Menace
A fed-up Seattle editor threatens to take a shot at an unwanted suitor serenading a neighbor with an off-key concertina.
- The Wharfinger's Reward: A Real Estate Gift from Henry Yesler
In an era of rising industrial ambition, Seattle's pioneer mogul Henry Yesler gifted four prime city lots to his longtime wharf manager as a gesture of gratitude.
- The Raggedy Ball: Seattle’s First Great Social Scandal
In September 1876, the city’s elite donned rags for a masquerade at Yesler’s Hall, turning social climbing into a contest of who could look the most destitute.
- 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 Salmon Bite
A minor fishing injury on the Columbia River turns into a race against gangrene for a young man.
- Seattle Declares Victory Over Smallpox Outbreak
After twenty days of tension, health officials confirm the city is safe, though the bill for containment—and a sharp rebuke for those who brought the sickness to town—remains.
- The Shadow Over Seattle's Growth
A look at the 1876 struggle between the promise of development and the ‘incubus’ of land monopolies.
- Inside the New King County Jail
A detailed look at the 'infallible' brick and iron lockup built to replace older, makeshift holding cells in 1870s Seattle.
- The House Rules of the 'Magic' Boarding House
A cantankerous landlord lists a set of bizarre, strict, and contradictory regulations for his boarders, from 'pulling off their boots' to a mysterious policy on nightmares.
- The Church of the Pacific Northwest
As the Episcopal Church gathered in 1880, its internal struggles over mission work, inclusion, and the 'Indian question' revealed a rapidly expanding organization looking toward the frontier.
- The Night Watchman's Dilemma: A Call for Safety on Seattle’s Dark Wharves
In September 1876, the Seattle City Council was urged to intervene after late-night passengers were forced to navigate dangerous docks alone, highlighting the precarious nature of early urban infrastructure.
- The Stinking Gutters of 1876
While Seattle promoters bragged of a salubrious climate, a local newspaper editorial exposed the reality of deadly, stagnant cesspools lining the streets.
- The Persistent Challenge to King County’s Treasurer
After multiple successful re-elections, Captain George D. Hill faced a legal challenge from an opponent who argued his military commission made him ineligible for the office.
- The Iron Road vs. The River: A 19th Century Fight for Seattle's Future
An editorial from 1877 argues that the future of the Northwest lies in narrow-gauge railroads rather than the unruly Columbia River.
- The Decades-Long Battle Over Yesler’s Mill
A landmark legal struggle over the future of Seattle’s foundational sawmill reaches a tense standoff in the courts.
- The Practical Joke of the Frontier
A settler’s terrifying encounter with two armed Indigenous men concludes not with the massacre he feared, but with a surreal—and expensive—demanding of his household supplies.
- Milling Corporations Snap up Washington Territory's Timber Lands
How corporate mills monopolized Washington's forest wealth while the government looked the other way.
- The Magic of Christmas in Pioneer Seattle
A glimpse into 1876 holiday traditions, from elaborate 'Fairy Land' church displays to the grab-box giveaways that defined the season for the city's children.
- British Co-operative Building and the Goal of Homeownership
Before the age of the modern mortgage, Seattle’s early pioneers looked toward international cooperative building societies to help working citizens plant roots in the city.
- Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad Takes Land-Grant Case to Congress
A legislative battle brews in Congress over land-grant endowments that could finally connect Seattle to the interior.