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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 15 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1878 | 12 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 5 |
48 stories matching save
- The Great Laundry War: Why Seattle Needs a 'White Labor' Steam Plant
In 1876, local entrepreneurs argued that Chinese washermen were stealing clothes and that white-owned steam laundries were the only way to save delicate women from catching cold.
- The Knife in the Carriage
A young woman’s train ride turns into a life-or-death encounter with an escaped asylum patient.
- The Night the 'Mad House' Burned Down
A suspicious blaze destroys a landmark building in Seattle, forcing local citizens to scramble to save the nearby gas works from the encroaching flames.
- Suspicion of Arson After Slaughter House Fire
An early morning fire on the Beach road leaves a local meat business in ruins, with the owner offering a bounty for the arsonist.
- The Avarice of the Soil
An 1871 lecture on why farmers must stop starving themselves to save a few pennies.
- The Great Seattle Printing Conspiracy
When the Dispatch editor exposed a 'plunder' scheme by rival newspapers to inflate public printing costs, he revealed the messy, graft-filled reality of 1878 municipal administration.
- The Great Log Boom Break: 800,000 Feet of Timber Set Adrift
A catastrophic failure at Colman’s mill sent a massive raft of logs floating into Elliott Bay, threatening the territory's primary industry.
- The Whaler That Never Was: A Yankee Betrayal of Puget Sound
In 1877, a local newspaper exposed how Boston shipbuilders stole a lucrative contract from Seattle’s own yards, ignoring the region's superior timber and strategic advantage for whaling.
- Two Hours Adrift on a Capsized Skiff
After a sudden squall capsized their small boat on the way to Seattle, two young sailors survived hours clinging to the keel in the frigid waters of Puget Sound.
- The Pilot Who Dropped Dead at the Helm
A seasoned navigator suffers a fatal stroke while guiding a British ship through the Golden Gate, only for the crew to be extorted by a tugboat captain who demands an 'exorbitant' fee to save them.
- God and the Daily Grind in 1878 Seattle
A glimpse into the moral anxieties and spiritual life of a burgeoning pioneer town, where the pulpit met the realities of guilt and sin.
- Industrial Hazards in 1876 Seattle
A furniture factory worker suffers the loss of his fingers in a dangerous machinery mishap, highlighting the grim reality of manual labor in early Seattle.
- The Roller Rink That Saved Seattle’s Winter Evenings
Before the city lights were bright, the local Pavilion offered a refuge from the damp, offering lessons and laughter to the residents of 1872 Seattle.
- A Deadly Commute to the Newcastle Mines
A ship carpenter’s fatal attempt to board a moving coal train highlights the dangerous conditions of industrial life in 1880s Seattle.
- The Water Took Her: A Canoe Accident at Seattle's Wharf, 1877
A canoe overturns in the dark beside Mechanics' Wharf. The others make it to shore—but the old woman slips away before anyone can save her.
- 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 Day Seattle’s Water Pipe Factory Saved Itself
While the rest of the country sweats through a historic heatwave, Tumwater’s industrial engine roars night and day to keep the city supplied.
- 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 Day a Cannon Changed History at the Cascades
Before he was a Civil War legend, Philip Sheridan fended off a regional uprising with a single, deafening shot.
- The Newspaper Feud of 1876
A local editor’s blistering public breakdown of an auditor who dared to write letters to the editor.
- The Roller Rink Craze of 1872
Before the city's modern obsession with wellness, local promoters banked on a new indoor exercise to save Seattle’s youth from 'pernicious influences and vile haunts.'
- A Near-Fatal Timber Run on the Snohomish River
A monster raft of lumber hits a snag, threatening the lives of a crew of settler-families near Snohomish City.
- The Great Timber Jackpot: Yesler’s Mill and the Lottery of Land
In 1876 Seattle, timber baron H.L. Yesler didn't just build the city's first mill; he turned his entire property into a $100,000 lottery prize, betting that luck would save him from debt.
- The Unlikely Hero of the Fire Escape
When a local doctor patented a new fire escape in 1878, he had to prove it could survive the ultimate test: a 'timid' gentleman from the New England Hotel climbing down from a third-story window.
- The Ship That Tore Its Own Bow Off: A Seattle Coal Vessel Lost to the Gale
In January 1877, the 1,200-ton ship *Commodore* was driven ashore at Cape Flattery in a ferocious storm. The crew survived, but the vessel—owned by local Port Ludlow resident Arthur Phinney and valued at $20,000—was destroyed.