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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 18 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1880 | 2 |
29 stories matching upper
- The Great Fire on Washington Street: A Narrow Escape from Ashes
A blaze in the upper story of a building near Pike Street threatened to consume Seattle’s growing commercial district, but the quick arrival of the fire engine saved the day.
- The Unsung Pioneers Clearing the Skagit River
While the territory hailed the opening of the Skagit Valley to navigation, the men bankrolling the arduous labor of clearing the massive log jam were left bankrupt.
- The Great Cedar Jam: How Settlers Cleared the Skagit River by Hand
In September 1876, a group of determined farmers and loggers took on the massive timber jams blocking the Skagit River, hoping to unlock sixty miles of navigation for their struggling community.
- Early Returns from the Stillaguamish Slough
Voters along the Stillaguamish River signal a decisive shift toward Republican leadership in the 1880 election.
- 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 Great Jam: Seattle’s Gamble on Clearing the Skagit River
As a massive log jam threatens to stall trade in the fertile Skagit Valley, enterprising locals are betting their fortunes on a dangerous engineering feat to open the river for commerce.
- Walla Walla Man Attempts Suicide; Gamblers Cheat Visitors
A tragic attempt at suicide in Walla Walla sheds light on the toll of addiction and the harsh realities of frontier life.
- The Sad Passing of Seattle's First Donation Claim Holder
Mrs. Diana Collins, a pioneer who arrived in 1850 and survived the tragedy of the Duwamish River, has passed away.
- Disaster at the Hardware Store
A shelf collapse at a prominent Seattle hardware firm results in injury and property loss, highlighting the hazards of downtown commercial growth.
- The Hotelkeeper Who Jumped to Escape Justice
A Port Gamble innkeeper’s dramatic leap from a second-story window reveals the gritty reality of justice in 1876 Seattle.
- The Idle Crowd: Seattle's 1877 Moral Panic over 'Street Loafers'
A local editor observes the growing ranks of the unemployed and 'non-descript' men gathering on Seattle corners, questioning how they survive in a bustling, labor-dependent territory.
- The Unending Grading of Front Street
Seattle's downtown thoroughfare is locked in a cycle of costly miscalculations, mud, and construction delays.
- Harvesting Begins on the Skagit Flats
Farmers in the Skagit Valley report massive yields, even as they face challenges with potato blight and the historic Skagit River 'jam.'
- The Coal Rush: How 1876 Industry Linked Seattle and Tacoma
A historic editorial argues that the expansion of Northern Pacific Railroad coal lines from Puyallup will drive mutual prosperity for Seattle and its southern neighbor.
- The Transformation of the 'Lava Bed'
A historic Seattle neighborhood known for 'drunken revelry and hellish orgies' faces an impending industrial rebirth.
- The Tragedy at Fourth Street: A Suicide in the Empire Mill Owner's Room
In a grim scene on October 2, 1876, Henry Bendel was found dead in his Seattle boarding house room, having taken his own life with a revolver. The incident highlights the precarious nature of business ownership in the young frontier town.
- The Perilous Mudholes of Early Seattle
A wagon spill involving a local judge exposes the treacherous, unpaved state of Seattle’s streets in 1876.
- The Muddy Road to Progress
In 1877, Seattle's city limits were defined not just by law, but by impassable, knee-deep mire that choked commerce and isolated local farmers.
- The Alleyway 'Doctor'
A persistent young street peddler attempts to sell a sickly, down-and-out man an apple and some 'remedies' for his poor health, leading to a strange and chaotic confrontation.
- A Home for Books Above the Liquor Store
After years of neglect, the Seattle Public Library relocates to a more central, if modest, home on Front Street—sparking a debate over the city's duty to provide spaces for 'public culture' over saloons.
- The Hyena of Seattle: A 'Herculean Woman' Leaves a Man Sprawled in the Dust
In a rare display of physical dominance that defied Victorian gender norms, a local woman engaged in a public brawl so fierce it was described as 'fiendish delight,' leaving her male opponent screaming for mercy.
- The River’s Revenge: How a Flood Saved the Jam Company Millions
While laborers toiled for months to clear the Snoqualmie Falls log jam, a sudden freshet swept away their equipment and valuable timber—yet paradoxically cleared the river faster than human hands ever could.
- The Engineer Who Vanished Into the Sound
A respected steamboat captain’s sudden disappearance in October 1878 sparks a desperate search and a grim theory of accidental drowning.
- Rain Turns Early Seattle's Front Street to Mud
When heavy rains turned downtown thoroughfares into impassable quagmires, residents demanded better engineering than the temporary, 'penny-wise' patch jobs of the 1870s.
- The Unstoppable Rail Builder of 1877
How James M. Colman bet his personal fortune to push the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad through the mountains, defying skeptics and funding the project on his own terms.