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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 5 |
23 stories matching instruct
- The Battle Against 'Charivari' Noise
When the city council of Vancouver, Washington, decided that raucous wedding serenades were 'disgraceful' to the public order, they took a stand against the tradition of the charivari.
- The Ethics of the Sting
A century before modern debates on police entrapment, Washington courts were already grappling with the line between preventing crime and creating it.
- The City That Built Itself: Seattle’s 1876 Bet on Railroads and Real Estate
While Portland urges unity to secure a transcontinental line, Seattle’s council quietly reshapes the city’s physical landscape—lowering street grades and paving sidewalks—betting that infrastructure will drive the boom.
- The Tax Trap: How a Federal Order Threatened Seattle’s Revenue
In 1876, a bureaucratic directive from Washington D.C. threatened to drain King County of its maritime tax base by forcing all vessels to 'hail' from Port Townsend, sparking fears of financial ruin for local developers.
- The Dream of Homeownership in 1878 Seattle
A century and a half ago, the Intelligencer urged Seattle residents to anchor themselves through property ownership as a moral and familial duty.
- The Perils of Poor Bookkeeping
A stern warning from the 1876 Seattle business community on the dangers of sloppy accounting and the virtues of labor.
- The Political Brawl for Seattle’s Soul
On the eve of the 1876 mayoral election, Seattle’s political landscape is marked by accusations of voter fraud, candidate interference, and a bitter struggle for city hall.
- The Schools Run Dry: Seattle’s 1877 Budget Crisis
With the city’s coffers emptied, Seattle's public schools were shuttered mid-semester, forcing teachers to pivot to private tuition just to keep the lights on.
- Building a Future: The 1876 Fight for Seattle’s School Sites
As Seattle’s population swelled in the 1870s, city leaders scrambled to secure prime real estate for education amidst a booming, land-hungry frontier town.
- The Price of Public Service: Seattle's 1878 Austerity Measures
Facing budget pressures, the Seattle City Council slashed the salaries of its top administrators while racing to secure a new steam-powered fire engine.
- The City’s First Legal Battle: Seattle vs. the Man Who Owned the Water
In April 1877, just months after Seattle was incorporated, the new Common Council authorized a lawsuit against Henry Yesler—the very man who built the city's first mill and gave it its name—over a dispute that would define municipal power.
- The Indestructible Spring Chicken
A satirical look at local wildlife hunting and the legendary toughness of the American barnyard bird.
- The Midnight Mutiny of Annabel McCarty
A young socialite’s debut party in 1877 Seattle takes a turn when she decides the festivities are entirely overrated.
- The General Who Couldn't Say 'No' to a Bigot
Lt. Col. George Newton’s stinging reply to a letter writer reveals the ugly underbelly of Seattle’s civic elite in 1897.
- The Gold Rush That Wasn't: How Seattle’s Prospectors Fooled the Town
In May 1877, a wave of excitement swept through Seattle over reports of rich gold deposits on the Nootsack River. But when the 'prospectors' finally arrived with their claims, it turned out to be an elaborate confidence trick designed to drain the town's cash reserves.
- The Boys Who Stowed Away: A Seattle Harbor Adventure
Two young stowaways from the Yakima country were discovered hiding in the coal bunkers of a tugboat bound for Olympia. Rather than turning them away at sea, the captain and crew took pity on the frightened youths, feeding and clothing them until their relieved parents could send a telegram.
- The Price of a Pioneer Homestead in 1877
A modest real estate listing from a century-and-a-half ago highlights the stark contrast between early Seattle’s property market and today's vertical city.
- The Seattle Correspondent’s Gaze on China
A disorienting, 1877 report from a Seattle newspaper explores the rigid social hierarchies and gender dynamics of the Qing Dynasty through a lens of Victorian fascination.
- The Science of Life Comes to the Coal Mines
When a traveling medical lecturer visited the coal town of Newcastle in 1877, the entire community turned out to witness a performance that mixed professional medical advice with public heckling of the town's elite.
- The Aristocratic Goose of Seattle
A satirical fable from the 1880 Seattle Daily Intelligencer offers a sharp critique of status-seeking and the folly of high-society marriages.
- The Wife Who Built a Saloon to Save Her Marriage
When her husband blamed his drinking on a 'dull' home life, a Seattle woman staged a radical intervention that turned their parlor into a cabaret.
- The Plague at the Doorstep: Seattle’s Battle Against Smallpox in 1877
As smallpox ravages Port Orchard and Salmon Bay, the city's Health Officer takes drastic quarantine measures against Indigenous communities, highlighting the fragile public health infrastructure of early Seattle.
- The Great Land Grab: Tacoma Citizens Unite Against Northern Pacific’s ‘Squatter’ Tactics
In a packed hall at Reinig’s Hall, leading citizens condemn the railroad’s seizure of public lands and its attempt to claim hundreds of thousands of acres for a coal line that will never be built.