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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
24 stories matching step
- A Painful Step in Belltown
A late-night walk leads to a broken leg and a warning about the precarious state of city sidewalks in 1877.
- 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 Juror Who Ate Himself into Jail
A Seattle juror’s hunger at the Occidental Hotel led to an invalidated trial, a stern rebuke from the bench, and three months in the county jail.
- The Agony of Fashionable Feet
A traveler reflects on the misery of tight-fitting boots, finding in them a metaphor for the 'tight shoes of the soul' that burden our daily lives.
- The Day Seattle Decided Its Own Elevation
A forgotten 1877 municipal ordinance reveals the precise moment the city set its literal foundation, anchoring the downtown grid to a granite step on Commercial Street.
- The Pied Piper of Seattle: The Policeman Who Controlled Animals
Before Seattle became a sprawling metropolis, a local officer reportedly possessed a magnetic, inexplicable influence over stray dogs and wild creatures.
- The Sheriff’s Hammer: A King County Farm Sold for Debt in the Heart of Seattle
In August 1875, the King County Sheriff stood on the courthouse steps to auction off a stranger's land to satisfy a judgment, turning the nascent town's civic center into a marketplace for foreclosures.
- The Property Battle for Old Seattle
A lawyer and property claimant fight to secure titles to a sprawling Seattle donation land claim amidst territorial legal confusion.
- The Sheriff’s Auction Block in Territorial Seattle
A look at the brutal cycle of debt and displacement in 1878 Seattle, where land holdings were sold off on the courthouse steps to satisfy unpaid loans.
- 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 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.'
- The Steam Engine Scandal of 1878
When Seattle’s city government faced accusations of graft over a new fire engine, the paper stepped in to defend the city council against 'personal defamation.'
- The Unlikely Tale of the 'Pull-Back' Train Stopper
A small-town mechanic's wild invention—a massive rubber cable designed to hook trains that left without their passengers—actually worked.
- Walla Walla Wheat Takes Sixteen Handlings
A 1879 editorial exposes the 16-step nightmare of shipping grain down the Columbia River, arguing that Seattle’s rail potential would end the monopoly and the waste.
- The Bitter Newspaper Feud of 1876
A public, vitriolic war of words between two Seattle editors reveals the cutthroat nature of early Pacific Northwest journalism.
- The Panic Over 'Free Love' and Women's Rights in Early Seattle
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch decries the growing suffrage movement, labeling advocates as threats to the 'sanctity of the marriage relation.'
- The Great McFadden Ovation: A City Stops for Its Hero
In October 1872, Olympia erupted in celebration as thousands of citizens, horses, and brass bands escorted Territorial Delegate Owen McFadden home from his successful eastern tour, contrasting sharply with the cold reception given to his rival.
- The 1878 State of the City: Seattle’s Growing Pains
Mayor O.A. Weed’s annual report reveals a city wrestling with debt, smallpox, and the urgent need for a real fire engine.
- The Stranger at the Oriental Hotel
A local man's keen instincts and a sharp-eyed witness led to the capture of a fugitive murderer hiding in plain sight in a Seattle rooming house.
- The Struggle for Rails and Revenue in Pioneer Seattle
An editorial chastising local property holders for failing to invest in their own infrastructure, warning that without local buy-in, Seattle’s growth remains a hostage to outside capital.
- The Chief Who Just Wanted to Be Left Alone
While Washington settlers braced for potential conflict with Chief Moses in 1878, a local merchant argued the indigenous leader was being provoked by a political usurper, not a desire for war.
- The Siege at the St. Charles Hotel
A young woman recounts a harrowing night of confinement after a local man tricked her into his room, only to be met with a public denial and claims of 'blackmailing.'
- The Price of Debt in 1877 Seattle
Foreclosure notices reveal the rapid shift in property ownership as King County land was liquidated at the courthouse steps.
- 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.