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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 73 |
| 1877 | 40 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 7 |
122 stories matching mill
- A Brutal Mill Accident at Port Blakely
A mill worker loses his foot to the saw, marking another dangerous day in the Puget Sound timber industry.
- Tragic Industrial Accident at Freeport Mill
A worker suffers severe injuries in a mill accident, sparking a desperate plea for his recovery.
- The Lumber Mistake: Why Seattle's Founders Chose the Bay
A local businessman argues that the early sawmills on the White River are doomed by geography, championing the waterfront as the true hub for Seattle's industrial growth.
- The Cedar Trade Drives Pacific Northwest Expansion
A new shipment of cedar creates a lucrative market for Victoria and Washington territory mills.
- The Bitter Feud Over a Burnt Seattle Sawmill
A public legal dispute between two businessmen reveals the high-stakes cost of the 1880 fire that razed a local mill.
- The Man Who Mistook the Dock for a Bath
A intoxicated sawmill driver nearly drowned in Seattle’s harbor after mistaking the dark water of Yeager's Wharf for a swimming hole.
- Thomas Eastbrook, 22, Dies After Freeport Mill Injury
A tragic industrial accident claims the life of a recent arrival to Seattle.
- The $100,000 Gamble: Yesler’s Great Lottery
To fund a mountain road, Seattle pioneer Henry Yesler turned to a massive, state-sanctioned lottery, putting his own saw mill and downtown lots on the line.
- The Iron Arteries of Early Seattle
A look inside the 1874 industrial engine of the city, where blacksmiths, carriage builders, and machinery experts kept the gears of a growing frontier town turning.
- A Near-Fatal Industrial Error at the Mill
A dangerous malfunction at a Seattle sawmill nearly crushes a worker, serving as a reminder of the perils of unregulated labor in the territory.
- Life and Sport at a Puget Sound Mill Town
Dispatch from Port Gamble captures the rhythm of mill life, local politics, and a crushing victory on the baseball diamond.
- The Lottery That Built Seattle: How a $5 Ticket Bought a Sawmill and City Blocks
In 1876, the Washington Territory authorized a massive state lottery to fund a road through the Cascades. The prize? A steam sawmill worth $100,000 and prime real estate in downtown Seattle.
- Seattle Hospital Offers Care for Loggers, Miners, Mill Workers
Before state-sponsored healthcare, Dr. G.A. Weed established a private hospital in Seattle specifically to treat the frequent injuries of loggers and mill workers.
- The Million-Dollar Ticket: How Seattle Bet Its Future on a Lottery
In 1876, the city’s most prominent businessman launched a massive lottery to fund a mountain road, offering a steam sawmill valued at $100,000 as the grand prize.
- The Pioneer Developer’s Gamble
When Seattle was a young, growing town, Henry Yesler looked for an unconventional way to fund critical mountain infrastructure: raffling off his massive timber empire.
- The $100,000 Mill: Seattle’s Legalized Lottery for a Fortune
In 1876, the Washington Territory authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road across the Cascades. The grand prize? A fully operational steam sawmill and prime real estate in downtown Seattle.
- The Great Seattle Lottery: A $100,000 Sawmill and a Road to Nowhere
In 1876, the Washington Territory legislature authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road through Snoqualmie Pass. The grand prize? Yelver’s Steam Saw Mill. It was a bold gamble on infrastructure that reveals how early Seattle funded its growth.
- 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.
- Milling Corporations Snap up Washington Territory's Timber Lands
How corporate mills monopolized Washington's forest wealth while the government looked the other way.
- Seattle’s Endless War Against the Hillside
In 1878, city officials scrambled to grade Mill Street to fix dangerous mudslides—a challenge that continues to plague Seattle’s topography today.
- The Perilous Sidewalks of Mill Street
Seattle’s rapid urban expansion in 1878 has left pedestrians navigating ten-foot drops without a single railing in sight.
- The Sawmill Scandal: Henry Yesler’s Long Legal War
Before the city grew, Seattle’s founding titan was locked in a decade-long, bitter courtroom battle over his sawmill, revealing the ruthless undercurrents of the frontier economy.
- The Great Olympia Mill Fire: A City's Heart Stolen by Flame
In the early hours of October 16, 1876, a devastating fire consumed the steam sawmill and all its property in Olympia, Washington Territory, leaving the community to wonder how they will replace their primary source of timber processing.
- The Brickyard Expansion: Fueling Seattle's Rapid Growth
As Seattle transitioned from a frontier outpost to a developing city, a local businessman secured a four-year lease on the city's primary brickyard to meet the surging demand for permanent construction materials.
- The Perils of the Frontier: Seattle’s First Industrial Hospital
In 1876, Dr. G.A. Weed opened a medical facility explicitly designed to care for the victims of Puget Sound’s dangerous timber and milling industries.