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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 8 |
13 stories matching plot
- The Price of Early Seattle
A real estate notice from 1876 advertises a prime plot of land between Seneca and University—a neighborhood that would eventually become the heartbeat of downtown Seattle.
- A Third Street House and Lot for Sale
Before Seattle became a city of skyscrapers, a simple plot of land between Seneca and University was a common commodity for sale in the local paper.
- The Price of Building a City: 1877 Tax Defaults
As Seattle began to rapidly expand, a long list of property owners faced the loss of their land for unpaid taxes—revealing the precarious nature of early urban ownership.
- Seattle Investors Plan a Boot Factory and Tannery
Before tech and aerospace, Seattle’s business elite plotted to stop shipping raw hides to San Francisco and instead build a city of tanneries and shoe factories.
- The Jailhouse Houdini of Seattle
While awaiting trial for boat stealing, a prisoner named Burton used a hidden knife to fish biscuits through his jail bars and plotted his escape with remarkable bravado.
- The Great Hotel Heist That Wasn't: How Seattle’s Gamblers Were Fooled by a Fake Fortune
A broken-down cardsharp named 'Splitcheck Jimmy' was tricked into stealing an envelope full of newspaper, only to be ambushed by actors in a staged robbery at the St. Denis Hotel.
- The Madman with the Million-Dollar Conspiracy
A wandering stranger’s frantic claims of a plot to rob him in Seattle lead to his arrest and a stark reminder: the city is growing too fast for its own good.
- The $1,000 Payroll: How Seattle’s Hop Boom Put Cash in Local Hands
A local farmer’s record-breaking harvest didn’t just fill warehouses—it injected a thousand dollars into the city’s economy by hiring Indigenous laborers who spent their wages right here.
- Holiday Revels and the 'Bronze Fountain' at Port Gamble
A glimpse into a settler's New Year’s social circle in 1877, featuring ambitious landscaping, amateur theater, and a bustling mill town economy.
- The Perilous Steam Bath of 1876
A Nevadan visitor to a Seattle Turkish bathhouse finds himself in a comedic, sweltering hostage situation over the reputation of his famous family name.
- The Great Partition: Why Walla Walla Wants to Leave Washington
A fiery editorial warns that the eastern half of the territory is plotting to join Oregon, leaving Seattle and the Puget Sound region stranded in a 'provincial' limbo.
- The Wharf That Ate Its Workers: Seattle’s First Major Infrastructure Failure
In September 1876, a newly built lumber wharf in Seattle collapsed under the weight of its own laborers, sending Chinese workers and timber plunging into the Duwamish River. The disaster exposed the rotting reality of territorial construction and the precarious lives of immigrant labor.
- The Country Estate as Medicine: Why Seattle’s Elite Are Buying Farms to Save Their Nerves
A satirical essay in the Daily Intelligencer argues that small country plots are not financial investments, but essential health remedies for city professionals suffering from 'trade winds' and nervous exhaustion.