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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 8 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 6 |
20 stories matching spread
- City Council Delays Naming a Health Officer
Seattle's City Council stalled on hiring a health officer, wrongly believing the county was responsible for contagion in a city being swept by regional fears.
- Quarantine in the Pioneer City: A Smallpox Scare in 1880
When two cases of smallpox arrived by steamer from San Francisco, Seattle authorities acted with swift, hard-edged precision to contain the contagion.
- The Pox Patrol: When Smallpox Patients Went Out for Whiskey
In 1880, Seattle's quarantine measures were so lax that victims were reportedly slipping out of the pesthouse at night to hit the saloons.
- The Great Fire of Seattle: A City in Ashes
As the dust settles on the inferno that consumed the heart of the young settlement, residents face the daunting task of rebuilding from nothing.
- 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 Price of a 'Pest House' in Pioneer Seattle
As drought and economic chaos gripped 1877 San Francisco, Seattle citizens found themselves debating the ethics of turning a local residential property into an isolation facility for the smallpox-stricken.
- The City’s Panic Over a Smallpox Outbreak
When an infectious disease arrived on the Seattle waterfront in 1876, the City Council and local editors turned to extreme rhetoric, calling for the forced removal of the city's vulnerable populations.
- The Tragic End of a Seattle Brakeman
Frank Kimball, a young rail worker, succumbs to injuries after a horrific crushing accident at the Newcastle mines.
- The Smallpox Panic of 1876
Busy-bodies spread false rumors of a smallpox outbreak in Seattle, prompting a swift rebuttal from the local physician.
- 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 Day Seattle’s Firefighters Forgot the Engine
A narrow escape on Mill Street in 1876 reveals how quickly a small fire could consume the wooden city—and how unprepared the new volunteer company was.
- The High Price of Marrying Into Nobility
A cautionary editorial from 1877 warns of the 'matrimonial maelstroms' facing stage stars who traded their hard-earned success for aristocratic titles.
- The Gossips of Old Seattle: A Dispute Over a Deathbed
A local man defends his reputation after neighbors spread rumors regarding his care for a sick houseguest.
- The Runaway Wife and the Saloon-Keeper's Fury
When a miner from Newcastle charged into Seattle hunting his wife, he found a city that prioritized refuge over his domestic control.
- The Skagit Gold Rush Mirage
When the promise of easy riches on the Skagit River sparked a frantic, ill-fated mining boom, Seattle’s local press faced accusations of peddling a dangerous myth.
- 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 Invading Clovers of the White River Valley
A botanical report on how the 'indomitable' white clover quietly conquered the hay fields of 19th-century King County, displacing the farmer’s preferred timothy.
- The Unintended Comedy of a Seattle Home-Grown Play
A young Seattle playwright attempts a 'powerful' American drama, only to accidentally create a farcical scene involving nightshirts, chin-wiping, and a very confused father-in-law.
- The Concordia Beer Hall Heist
A cool-headed band of thieves broke into a Seattle saloon, cracked the safe, and held an impromptu dinner party with stolen beer and cigars before vanishing.
- The Rambling Village That Wanted to Be a City
An 1876 editorial reflects on Seattle’s humble, sprawling aesthetic, arguing that the lack of architectural grandeur was not a failure of taste, but a deliberate, democratic strategy to avoid the 'unhealthy' wealth concentration of Eastern cities.