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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 11 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1878 | 22 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 3 |
53 stories matching sum
- The Price of a Wagon Road: Financing the Frontier
A look at the logistical grunt work of early King County, from building roads to settling school district boundaries in 1878.
- The Hustlers of the Waterfront: Regulating Seattle's Hotel Runners
In 1878, the Seattle City Council cracked down on the aggressive solicitors who haunted the docks, requiring them to wear badges and pay a quarterly tax for the right to hawk boarding houses.
- The Price of Panic: Foreclosures in 1878 Seattle
A wave of Sheriff’s sales, spurred by defaulted debt and legal judgments, reveals the precarious financial reality of Seattle property owners during the late 1870s.
- The Collector’s Trap: A Seattle Customs Scandal
A clever merchant’s attempt to recoup a fine through a legislative loophole backfires, leaving him out $500 in an era of federal bureaucracy.
- The Great Street Swap: White Labor Replaces Chinese Contractors in Seattle
In a striking display of racial labor politics in 1876, sixty white workers were hired to replace Chinese contractors on Seattle streets, halting progress and inconveniencing residents.
- The Price of Print: A Pioneer Newspaper’s Inventory Liquidation
A rare glimpse into the mechanics of 1878 journalism as a Seattle printer liquidates his entire shop, signaling the volatile life of local presses.
- The Jailbreak Problem: When Every County Was Its Own Penitentiary
In 1877, Washington Territory struggled with a chaotic, decentralized justice system where county jails were crumbling and prisoners were held for profit.
- The Condemned Jail of 1876
A scathing Grand Jury report in 1876 denounced Seattle's 'lock-up' as a public nuisance, sparking a debate over fiscal priorities that mirrors the city's modern struggles with infrastructure and housing.
- The Confidence Man of Washington Street
A grifter exploited local tensions to con Chinese merchants out of $600 under the guise of buying off a prosecutor.
- The Opium Steward of the Dakota
A routine baggage check on the steamship Dakota reveals a massive illicit cargo, sparking a criminal case that hints at a long-running smuggling operation on Puget Sound.
- The End of a Printing Era
As the Seattle economy shifts, one of the city's early job printers liquidates his massive wood type collection, marking a quiet close to a chapter of local industry.
- The Price of a Smuggled Vice
Two brothers arrested with thirty pounds of opium off the steamer California face the cold reality of a federal court judgment.
- The City Council Bans Dumping at the Harbor’s Edge
Facing mounting concerns over the obstruction of commerce, Seattle’s early leadership passes a strict ordinance against dumping ship ballast into Elliott Bay.
- The Sheriff’s Gavel: Seattle Land Auctioned to Pay a Debt
In October 1876, King County Sheriff L.V. Wyckoff prepared to sell 160 acres of land in front of the courthouse to satisfy a judgment against Duncan Dewar, illustrating the harsh realities of property law in early Seattle.
- The Great Seattle Saw-Mill Gamble
When the city's leading industry, the Yesler Mill, was placed into a grand lottery to boost the local economy and resolve debt, it sparked a frontier frenzy of ticket-buying.
- Unidentified Man Found Slain Near Seattle
A young immigrant worker is found brutally murdered in the woods, highlighting the dangers facing newcomers in the rugged economy of 1880s Washington.
- The Sheriff’s Gavel: A King County Farm Vanishes at Auction
In October 1876, Duncan Dewar lost 160 acres of prime land in Seattle to satisfy a $300 debt. The legal machinery of the young territory was grinding away, turning homes and fields into line items.
- The Hunt for the Runaway Wife
After his wife eloped to Seattle with a family friend, a jilted husband tracked her across the coast to initiate a legal reckoning.
- The Debt of 1877: A Seattle Legal Notice
A court summons in 1879 offers a rare, granular glimpse into the personal credit and legal entanglements of pioneer-era Seattle merchants.
- The End of an Era for a Pioneer Printer
Austin A. Bell closes his Seattle jobbing business, offering his entire stock of type and heavy press equipment at a clearance price.
- Seattle Sheriff's Auction Over an 1878 Debt
Legal notices from 1878 reveal a stark trail of property foreclosures, sheriff's auctions, and financial upheaval in the early days of King County.
- 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 Price of Industrial Expansion
A sheriff’s auction reveals the crushing debt behind the rise of Seattle’s coal industry in the 1870s.
- The Tragedy on the Beach
A grim discovery near a logging camp raises questions of foul play in 1876 Seattle.
- 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.