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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 9 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1879 | 1 |
16 stories matching commerc
- The City Council Bans Dumping at the Harbor’s Edge
Facing mounting concerns over the obstruction of commerce, Seattle’s early leadership passes a strict ordinance against dumping ship ballast into Elliott Bay.
- The Last Stand of Bebe Low: A Saloon Keeper’s Final Plea
In August 1876, Seattle saloon owner Bebe Low publicly demanded his debts be settled before disappearing from the city, leaving behind a cryptic notice and a legacy of vanished frontier commerce.
- The Rebirth of Seattle's Idle Mill
A dormant Seattle sawmill gets a new lease on life under San Francisco capital, signaling an era of rapid industrial expansion for the town.
- The Man Who Ran Seattle: Thos. W. Prosch Appointed Postmaster
In October 1876, President Grant signs the commission for Thomas W. Prosch as the new Postmaster of Seattle, cementing his role in a town where he is already the undisputed king of commerce and politics.
- The New Era of Women in the Workplace
A glimpse into 1875 Liverpool shows women claiming their space in commerce, prompting a reflection on the future of labor in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Black Pall Over Washington’s Future
A proposed decade-long extension for the Northern Pacific Railroad threatens to monopolize the territory's vast timber and mineral wealth while stifling independent settlement.
- The Frontier Prospect: Surveying the Skagit River's Hidden Wealth
An 1872 exploration report charts the potential for settlement, steam navigation, and resource extraction along the Skagit River, framing the 'great jam' of timber as a challenge to be conquered by modern commerce.
- The Seattle-Tacoma Rivalry Began with Petty Insults
While Tacoma boosters once mocked Seattle’s 'niggardly' natural gifts, the Dispatch fired back with a masterclass in civic trash-talk.
- The Horse That Stopped a City: How an Epidemic Ground Seattle to a Halt
In October 1872, a mysterious disease swept through the Pacific Northwest, paralyzing streetcars and commerce. As merchants turned to oxen and hand carts, the Territory of Washington faced its first major public health crisis.
- The Ring is Broken: Seattle’s Republicans Revolt Against the 'Corrupt' Delegate
In a stunning display of local defiance, prominent Seattle citizens and Republican leaders publicly repudiate Territorial Delegate George W. Gillette, accusing him of betrayal and corruption ahead of the 1873 election.
- The Railroad Gamble
In an 1878 editorial, the Seattle Weekly Dispatch argues that the economic survival of the region depends on using Chinese labor to build the Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad, claiming that white capital refuses to invest unless labor costs are kept low.
- 1878 Seattle Grapples With Nationwide Money Shortage
While 1878 brought economic panic across the nation, Seattleites rejected the idea that their town was failing, pointing to local grit and coal-laden wharves as the true engines of progress.
- The Death of the American Shipyard
In an 1873 speech, Congressman Alexander Mitchell argued that excessive taxation and protectionist tariffs were systematically destroying the American shipping industry, forcing once-prosperous shipbuilders into obsolescence.
- Minister Ties Columbia River Rapids to Costly Freight
A century and a half ago, Seattle boosters were already plotting to cut Portland out of the regional economy by building a railroad to the interior.
- The Dream of a Northern Bosphorus: Seattle in 1872
A period travelogue captures the raw, rugged ambition of a frontier Seattle, where coal, timber, and dreams of a transcontinental railroad promised to transform a small sound-side village into a global commercial power.
- 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.