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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 11 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 5 |
40 stories matching hard
- The Hidden Dens of 1870s Seattle
A citizen appeal from 1872 exposes how unchecked public gambling was eroding the moral and financial fabric of the developing waterfront town.
- The Great Seattle Homestead Fraud
A whistleblower exposes how workers were swindled out of their hard-earned money by a predatory land development scheme.
- The Ghost of the 1873 Crash Still Haunts Seattle
As the Seattle Weekly Dispatch reflects on the long, agonizing economic recovery from the Panic of 1873, the parallels to our modern housing and labor struggles reveal a century-old cycle of debt and instability.
- The Great Telegraph Trail Escape
After fleeing the King County jail, two prisoners find that their path to freedom in Mukilteo was blocked by the unforgiving woods and an unexpected encounter with a local resident.
- The Rowdiest Port in the Pacific Northwest
An 1872 report describes the brutal realities of the maritime labor market in Port Townsend, where sailors were coerced into service and returned to shore battered and bruised.
- Homesteading on the Edge of the Forest
An 1878 dispatch from a settler near Lake Washington offers advice to 'respectable' newcomers looking to carve a life out of the untamed timberland.
- The Gentleman Wood-Sawyer of Seattle
When a young man’s romantic and financial future hung in the balance, he traded his social standing for an axe to impress a boarding-house landlady’s daughter.
- The Deaf Dodge
A local drunkard tries to outsmart a judge by faking deafness, only to be tripped up by the prospect of a free drink.
- The Gold Hunters of Seattle's Backwoods
Three Indigenous men bring fine shot gold to the Puget Sound Banking Company, sparking a rush of speculation about rich deposits in the mountains east of town.
- The Lawyer Who Sold Out the Settlers
A local editorial exposes future President James Garfield’s role as a corporate attorney for the Northern Pacific Railroad, accusing him of betraying Washington Territory homesteaders to protect railroad land holdings.
- The Road to Nowhere: Seattle’s Infrastructure Crisis of 1876
As the city grows, its roads are crumbling into impassable mud, endangering farmers and merchants alike. A local editorial demands immediate action before the 'corduroy' turns to chaos.
- The True Cost of a Game of Billiards
A Seattle man learns a hard lesson about domestic economy and the hypocrisy of his own spending habits after denying his family small requests.
- The Great Mill Street Wagon Prank
A local hotel runner learns the hard way that the boys of Mill Street have a penchant for mechanical mischief.
- 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.
- The Dignity of the 'Horny Hand'
In 1878, a Seattle editorial warned against the ‘pauperism’ caused by an overabundance of professional graduates who were too proud to labor.
- The grueling, mountain-carving work of mapping the Puget Sound
A survey crew spends the summer hacking paths through the dense, uncharted forests of the Olympic Peninsula and Straits of Fuca to measure the rugged frontier.
- The Seattle Coal Boom of 1876
As Seattle mine exports topped 100,000 tons, boosters predicted a regional dominance that would sideline the competition.
- The Silver Dollar Crusade: Seattle’s Local Echo of a National Money War
While the nation debates bimetallism and Indian Wars, Washington Territory officials in Seattle are quietly preparing for a federal commission that could reshape the region's economy.
- The Brutal Theft Recovery in Genessee Valley
When a farmer lost $500, he turned to a horrific act of violence to extract a confession from the man he suspected.
- The Workingman's Protest Against Seattle's 'Class Tax'
An early Seattle citizen takes to the press to challenge a municipal licensing ordinance, arguing it unfairly shifts the tax burden from the wealthy onto the backs of laborers.
- The Jail That Took Too Long
A Snohomish correspondent laments the bureaucratic foot-dragging that delayed the construction of the county's first lock-up.
- The Perilous Path to Nowhere
A survey team's disastrous expedition into the Cascades exposes the grand delusions of railroad barons chasing land grants.
- 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 Secret Benefactor of a Struggling Seattle Teacher
A modest schoolteacher discovers that her late aunt, a wealthy woman she hardly knew, had been paying her bills in secret long before the surprising terms of her will were revealed.
- The Unlikely Rise of Belltown
When William N. Bell first envisioned a northern suburb for Seattle, critics called his plan a 'chimerical scheme of a visionary.' Today, the hammers are ringing as the neighborhood transforms from dense forest into a city hub.