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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 10 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 5 |
35 stories matching hear
- 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 Day the Talking Machine Arrived in Seattle
In 1878, Seattle citizens gathered at Yesler’s Hall for a demonstration of Thomas Edison's 'wonderful invention' that could capture and replay human speech.
- The Miracle Cure of 1872
A Seattle resident documents his miraculous recovery from twenty years of deafness under the care of a visiting traveling physician.
- A Night of Political Fervor at Yesler's Hall
Hundreds pack the Seattle venue to hear Judge Thomas Burke and local speakers rally support for the Democratic ticket.
- Seattle’s First Brush with the Future
When an agent from Portland brought a pair of telephones to town, residents gathered at Yesler’s Hall to hear voices and music traveling eight miles through thin air.
- The Hurdy-Gurdy House on Main Street
A Seattle neighborhood erupts in a formal complaint against the raucous music and nightly disturbances of a Main Street 'hurdy-gurdy house.'
- The Territory's Legislative Snake
A scathing critique from 1877 exposes the 'headless and tailless' chaos of newly minted Washington tax laws, exposing a system designed to strip residents of their property through administrative incompetence.
- The Perennial Struggle of the Local Press
A century and a half ago, Seattle editors were already trading barbs about the 'eternal fitness' of readers who sponge news and merchants who refuse to advertise.
- Racing the Iron Horse on the Trestle
A man’s late-night walk toward the city turns into a desperate sprint for life against an oncoming train.
- The Disappearing Blind Musician of Seattle
A itinerant musician duped local merchants before vanishing to California, highlighting the precarity of trust in a growing port city.
- The Gold Rush to Ruby Creek
A local merchant receives a singular order for gold scales from miners in the North Cascades, signaling a major mineral boom on the Upper Skagit.
- The Axe and the Insane Asylum: A Tragedy in Snohomish
A local farmer justifies shooting a stranger who assaulted his sister, citing the attacker's history of mental illness.
- The Duwamish River Schoolhouse Scandal
A romantic dispute between two suitors erupts into violence at a church service, forcing a local justice to mediate the cost of their bruised egos.
- The Great Egg Exodus: Why One Seattle Boarding House Keeper is Trading City Squalor for Fidalgo Island Farming
In a move that defies the city's booming real estate speculation, Mrs. Johnson abandons her Commercial Street boarding house to launch a poultry empire on Fidalgo Island, proving that sometimes the best investment is a flock of chickens.
- 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 True Cost of a Hired Hand
A frank critique of the era's labor relations, arguing that farmer complaints about hired help often stem from poor treatment and meager food rather than a decline in worker character.
- 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 Widow’s Last Ledger
On her deathbed, a thrifty farm wife attempts one final audit of the neighborhood’s debts, only to find her husband’s memory suddenly failing when it comes to money she owes others.
- A Telegraph Prank Turned a Boat Trip into an Armed Standoff
When someone wired Port Ludlow that a steamer carried smallpox, the town's 'commercial travelers' met a wall of shotguns — and a joke got out of hand.
- The Unsettled Estate on the Edge of Lake Union
A legal notice from 1877 reveals the struggle of a widow attempting to settle a deceased spouse's debts by liquidating land near the wild, undeveloped frontier of Seattle's Lake Union.
- The Forgotten Wife at the Center of Seattle
Dr. David Maynard’s 1852 donation land claim, which comprises much of downtown Seattle, is tied up in a legal crisis over the validity of his divorce and the arrival of his first wife, Lydia A. Maynard.
- The Politics of Poverty: Seattle’s 1878 Voter Suppression Fight
A century and a half ago, local officials tried to implement a 'poll tax' to restrict voting rights, sparking a fierce debate over whether a citizen’s right to participate in democracy could be tied to their financial status.
- The Jailhouse Blunder in Seattle
A man was locked away for a week without due process, exposing deep incompetence in the administration of territorial justice.
- The New Year’s Eve Rebellion
When a husband dismisses his wife's domestic responsibilities with a callous remark, she plots a glittering, high-society revenge that forces him to reconsider his marriage.
- The Legal Scramble for Maynard’s Land
A bitter newspaper feud reveals the messy reality of early Seattle’s land titles, where a complex divorce and a 'lost' first wife sparked a struggle over ownership in the city’s heart.