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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 19 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1880 | 9 |
42 stories matching exist
- The Giant of Wawawai
A crew grading a road near the Snake River unearths the remains of a man estimated to be thirty feet tall.
- The Uncomfortable Truth About Seattle's Hotel Shortage
In 1876, the local press argued that Seattle’s lack of quality hotel space wasn't just an inconvenience—it was a drag on the city's entire economic reputation.
- The End of an Era: The Vincent House Dissolves
In a move that signals shifting tides in Seattle’s early commercial landscape, the partnership behind one of the city’s most prominent hotels and saloons has been officially dissolved.
- The Smallpox Scare of 1880
When a woman was quarantined in the local pest house for suspected smallpox, local doctors sparred over whether her condition was actually a common venereal disease.
- The Silent Epidemic: Diphtheria in 1880 Seattle
A harrowing, vivid account of the early stages of diphtheria, a 'perplexing theme' of illness that terrorized families and baffled medical practitioners in the Washington Territory.
- The Heirs of a Ghost: A Legal Battle for Seattle’s Empty Land
In the early days of Washington Territory, three women stepped forward to claim an inheritance in a town that barely existed, warning off any buyers from purchasing land they believed was theirs.
- The Persistent Business of Superstition
An editorial from 1877 examines why, despite the march of progress and the printing press, humanity remained obsessed with palmistry, spiritualism, and bad omens.
- The Political Battle for Seattle’s Soul in 1880
A rare glimpse into the intense, hard-fought campaign that cemented Republican power in late 19th-century Seattle.
- The City’s Dirty Secret: A Plea for Seattle’s Health
In 1870, a local editorial warns that Seattle’s lack of sewage infrastructure is poisoning the community with disease, urging citizens to prioritize public health over fiscal caution.
- The Price of Panic: 1876 Seattle Views on Labor and Economic Depression
An editorial from the Seattle Daily Intelligencer explores the deep-seated economic anxieties of the era, blaming trade disputes and 'idle' men for the systemic instability of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Great Smokestack Hoax: Seattle’s Mountain Top Mystery
In 1873, local entrepreneur S. W. Peck convinced the city that a legendary 'living rod' lay buried atop American Flat. His desperate drilling operation reveals more about the era's speculative fever than geological truth.
- The Dark Side of Seattle’s Growth
As Seattle expanded in 1880, its infrastructure struggled to keep pace with the population boom, leaving residents to navigate rotting sidewalks and unlit streets.
- 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.
- Seattle Incorporates Northern Pacific Iron Works
A look at the birth of the Northern Pacific Iron Works, a grand manufacturing dream that once promised to turn Seattle into a regional powerhouse.
- The Territorial Election: Defining Seattle’s Future in 1878
As Washington Territory eyes statehood, local papers urge a massive voter turnout to secure political clout and prove the region's population worth.
- The Midnight Death of Seattle’s Charter
When a judge declared the city’s incorporation invalid in 1877, the local newspaper editor went on the warpath to save the municipality from 'gratuitous anarchy.'
- A Close Call on the Hill
After a devastating nighttime fire in 1877, Seattle residents grapple with the fragility of a wooden city and the lack of basic firefighting infrastructure.
- The Forgotten Dream of a Seattle County Fair
In 1876, local boosters argued that Seattle needed a central fair to bring together the disparate agricultural valleys of King County—a dream of connection in a fragmented frontier.
- The Apple Orchard Dreams of Early Seattle
Before the city became a tech hub, civic boosters saw the future of Seattle in the 'stately forests' replaced by row after row of fruit trees.
- The Ghost of Belltown and the Battle for the Ballot
In 1880, as Seattle’s population swelled, the newspaper sparred with shipping reports over the identity of a neighborhood that 'did not exist' and the urgent need for more polling stations.
- The Sacred Garden of the Frontier
A look at the sentimental and pious customs of 1878 Seattle, where the living turned to the Victorian language of flowers to honor the dead.
- The Struggle for a Fire-Safe City
Early Seattleites grapple with the slow, expensive process of organizing a volunteer fire department to protect a rapidly growing town.
- Puget Sound Herring Fisheries Need Capital and Experience
A local editor argues that Seattle’s budding herring industry is destined to become a global titan—if only local businessmen would stop throwing away the fertilizer.
- The Great Coal Tariff Debate
An 1876 editorial argues for high protectionist tariffs on coal to shield Puget Sound mining wages from foreign competition and low-wage labor.
- The Unlikely Sweep of 1880
When King County became the 'banner county' for the GOP, local editors credited a clean campaign and a rejection of the 'mud-slinging' tactics of their rivals.