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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 5 |
| 1876 | 8 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1880 | 1 |
28 stories matching accept
- The 'Rat' Printers of Seattle
When an 1877 newspaper attempted to cut costs by firing union compositors, the resulting strike sparked a fierce, public feud between rival publications.
- The End of an Era: S. Baxter Steps Down from Bellingham Bay Coal
After five years as manager of the merchantile department for the Bellingham Bay Coal Company, S. Baxter has tendered his resignation, accepted by President Cornwall. D. Rogers is installed in his place.
- When Two Postmasters Abandoned Their Offices to Join the Legislature
In 1879, two Washington Territory postmasters resigned their federal jobs to become legislators — but their resignations were still in the mail, so they simply left.
- The Sad Case of the Shoe-Snatching Prisoner
A man’s desperate theft of footwear ends in a courtroom, highlighting the meager choices available to the poor in 1870s Seattle.
- Seattle’s First Steam Fire Engine
Facing a growing city's vulnerability, Seattle’s leadership authorized a massive expenditure in 1878 to modernize the local fire brigade.
- The Myth of the Lazy Laborer
A Seattle newspaper editorial in 1878 berates unemployed men for refusing to repair flood-damaged dykes, framing poverty as a moral failing despite local economic instability.
- The Scandal of the City Fire Engine
A missing $300 in gold coin leads to a bitter political falling-out in 1878 Seattle, revealing the city's early struggles with public trust and municipal accounting.
- The Courthouse That Never Was
A desperate plea to build a modest county seat on a 'high ridge' between Seattle and Belltown before the city outgrows its footprint.
- The Embroidered Vow: A Victorian Romance in Seattle
When an accident leaves a young woman scarred, she retreats from society, only to discover a secret message stitched into a handmade cushion.
- The Thankless Grind of Seattle’s Territorial Delegate
In 1877, Judge Jacobs faced a barrage of local criticism for his D.C. lobbying efforts—a precursor to the modern frustrations of representing a growing, isolated Northwest in the halls of federal power.
- The Midnight Pork-Thieves of Belltown
A wave of petty food thefts from residential pantries has Seattle neighbors on edge, prompting warnings about the 'nocturnal nippers' prowling the city's outskirts.
- The Midnight Bells of Olympia
When two Northern Pacific agents arrived at midnight to announce the rail terminus, the town of Olympia erupted in a celebration that would define its future.
- Three Children Dead in a Week: Diphtheria Stalks a Legislator's Family
Called home from the legislature by a telegram, Hon. Joseph Foster buries three children in a single week as his wife lies gravely ill with the same disease.
- The Courthouse That Built Itself
As Seattle transitioned from a frontier lumber outpost into a formal city, the County Commissioners finally took the 'bull by the horns' to replace scattered offices with a grand civic monument.
- The Great Seattle Railroad Swindle
How corporate speculators and land rings bypassed honest stockholders and plundered the future of the city's waterfront.
- An 1872 Manifesto for the 'Working Girl'
In an era of stifling expectations, a Seattle newspaper columnist argues that women should prioritize professional autonomy over the 'inferno' of a loveless marriage.
- The Price of a Wagon Road: Financing the Frontier
A look at the logistical grunt work of early King County, from building roads to settling school district boundaries in 1878.
- The Industrial Gamble That Defined a City
How local visionary James M. Colman pushed Seattle into the future by betting his fortune—and demanding the town follow suit—on a critical rail link to the coal mines.
- Steamboats and Gold Dreams on the Skagit
A traveler recounts the frantic race of riverboats up the Skagit and the sudden discovery of gold nuggets high above the river, fueling hopes for a new frontier.
- The 'Folly' of Tacoma: A Steamboat Traveler’s Skeptical Report
An 1876 visitor finds the new city of Tacoma lacking and highlights the tragic loss of local boys at sea.
- The Jailbreak Problem: When Every County Was Its Own Penitentiary
In 1877, Washington Territory struggled with a chaotic, decentralized justice system where county jails were crumbling and prisoners were held for profit.
- The Day the Pigs Needed Life Jackets: Seattle’s Great Duwamish Flood of 1876
As the Duwamish River swells and farmers flee to their attics, local merchants rally to clear the Skagit River, betting on a waterway that could transform the territory's economy.
- The Property Battle for Old Seattle
A lawyer and property claimant fight to secure titles to a sprawling Seattle donation land claim amidst territorial legal confusion.
- The Delegate Who Sold Seattle’s Future for Five Thousand Dollars
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch accuses Territorial Delegate George Freeman Willard of betraying Seattle’s interests—specifically the mud flats of Duwamish Bay—to secure his own political and financial gain, while simultaneously accepting bribes from rival railroad companies.
- The Mayor’s War on the 'Ring': A Candidate’s Plea for Clean Government in 1879 Seattle
Bernard Cossen runs for mayor not for power, but to stop wealthy landowners from hoarding public funds and blocking civic progress.