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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 14 |
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 20 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 7 |
64 stories matching point
- The Bureaucratic Standoff at Point-No-Point
A federal effort to build a lighthouse on Puget Sound hit a wall in 1878 when landowners demanded 'exorbitant' prices, sparking a debate over the government's power to acquire land.
- The Mail Carrier's Perilous Muck
A routine trek between Mukilteo and Priest's Point nearly turns deadly for a mail carrier trapped in the marsh.
- Sunday School Picnics at Alki Point
The community gathers for a mass outing at Alki, featuring clambakes and speeches under a clear sky.
- The Mail Must Go Through: A Fatal Storm on the Coast
A dedicated mail carrier and his father lost their lives in a treacherous storm off the Washington coast while attempting to deliver the mail from Montesano to Chehalis Point.
- The Hilltop Slip: Seattle’s Shifting Waterfront
Decades before the regrades reshaped the city, residents of the Belltown waterfront watched their homes slide into the bay as the ground beneath them turned to quicksand.
- The Gateway to the Skagit Gold Fields
Developers race to establish a supply town at the head of navigation as miners push into the remote wilderness of the Skagit River.
- The Ship Eldorado is Lost
A valuable Seattle coal vessel runs aground near Port Angeles, signaling a likely total loss.
- The Great Railway Monopoly Struggle of 1877
An editorial from the Seattle Weekly Dispatch reveals the town's early, bitter fight against the Northern Pacific Railroad's land-grabbing tactics.
- The Battle for the Big Cut
On the frontier of 1872, railroad crews fight the Cowlitz floods and 'Big Cut' rock to carve a path for the North Pacific line.
- After the Bankruptcy, a Mill Town Bets on a Bonanza: Utsalady's 1877 Rebound
In a single March week, the Camano Island mill town of Utsalady snapped back from bankruptcy: a $30,000 mill sale, workmen arriving by steamer, plans for a new wharf — and a showman who decided to stay.
- The Iron Horse and the Muddy Streets of Seattle
While the shipping of Talbot coal promises a bright economic future, the city's infrastructure remains stuck in the mud, waiting for the arrival of the railroad.
- The Terminus Bait: How the Northern Pacific Played Seattle
In 1878, Washington residents saw through the railroad's broken promises and the cynical 'town lot' real estate schemes that kept the city waiting for a line.
- The Tragic End of Ferryman Henry Smith
A lonely death on the Duwamish River captures the precarious reality of life in early Seattle.
- 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 Land is Moving Beneath the Mills
As Seattle's waterfront expansion struggles against unstable geology, a sash and door factory is forced to shutter as the hillside slips toward the bay.
- The Pioneer Hospital of the Puget Sound Frontier
In an era of dangerous labor and little social support, Dr. G. A. Weed opened a hospital in Seattle designed to serve the 'sick and disabled who have no homes' in the growing mill and mining industries.
- The Capsized Boat and the 'Male Kind' Rescue
A trio of young men testing their luck on Lake Union learn a harsh lesson in buoyancy, social embarrassment, and the precariousness of Victorian masculinity.
- The Pioneer Struggle to Pave Commercial Street
Before it was the bustling core of Pioneer Square, Seattle’s Commercial Street was a rough-hewn stretch of dirt and mud in dire need of basic infrastructure.
- The Iron-Spoke Innovation of 1876
A radical new design in carriage wheels promises a smoother, sturdier ride for Seattle’s muddy, nascent streets.
- The Price of Development in 1878
A wave of land foreclosures hits King County as local settlers see their riverfront properties seized to satisfy debt.
- The Onions That Proved the Sound Wasn't a Wasteland
When skeptics doubted the agricultural potential of Western Washington, one local editor pointed to the bounty of the wharves to silence the critics.
- The Industrial Peril of Early Seattle
A newly established hospital opens its doors on Commercial Street to treat the rising toll of injuries from the region's expanding sawmills, coal mines, and logging camps.
- The Seattle Lottery Scandal of 1876
A local editor confesses his regret for backing a 'legal' lottery that turned the city into an open gambling hell.
- The Fallen Commander: Major Thornburgh’s Frontier Legacy
Remembering the life and service of the military officer who served in Washington Territory and met a tragic end on the frontier.
- The Great Seattle Cow Menace of 1877
Before the city was paved, Seattle’s early residents struggled with 'educated' cows that dismantled fences and destroyed gardens under the cover of night.