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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 15 |
| 1892 | 15 |
30 stories matching thousand
- The $25,000 Schoolhouse and the Competition That Smelled
A letter writer asks the school board a sharp question: if the winning architect was allowed to redraw his plans after the price came in too high, what exactly was the competition for?
- A $5,000 Check and a Textbook Vote: the Supreme Court Says the Bribery Case Must Be Tried
Book agents accused of buying a state school-board vote with a five-thousand-dollar check get their indictment reinstated — and the case heads back to a Thurston County jury.
- The Paper War That Split Thurston County
A rival weekly, a political machine, and a defiant editor: Olympia’s Tribune accuses the Owings-Murphy ring of spending thousands to “down” it.
- Forty-Three Old Soldiers at Orting — and the Olympia Women Furnishing Their Rooms
The state soldiers' home that legislators once laughed at now shelters 43 Civil War veterans, and cities across Washington are racing to outfit their quarters — Olympia's Relief Corps is fitting up an 'Olympia room.'
- A Morning Fire Takes City Hall and a Block of Colfax
A $16,500 blaze burned out the city hall, a livery stable, saloons, a restaurant, a lodging house and the telephone office.
- Forty Thousand Bricks Rejected at the New Courthouse
Superintendent Rogers refused to let nearly 40,000 soft bricks from a Westside yard go into Olympia's new courthouse, warning contractors that the specifications would be enforced.
- A Sailor’s Memory of the 1841 Fourth of July
Before Seattle, Tacoma, or Olympia existed, the Wilkes Expedition celebrated Independence Day on the prairies near Fort Nisqually with a roasted ox and brass howitzers.
- The $10 Million Dream to Turn Olympia Into the Hub of the Northwest
J. R. Chaplin pitched a grand Olympia Improvement Company and a ship canal from Black Lake through the Chehalis to Grays Harbor—enough, he promised, to leave Seattle, Tacoma and Portland behind.
- Olympia to Boston: 'The Athens of the Northwest' Makes Its Case
A Unitarian minister's letter to Eastern readers insists that the capital city, older than Seattle or Tacoma, is no backwater — and that the whole Sound country is bound to Boston by blood and history.
- The westernmost town in America bets its future on a telegraph wire
Ocosta-by-the-Sea, on Grays Harbor, is wired to the world and promoters promise a seaside metropolis — cottages, plank roads, a clam bake and a coming railroad.
- The Governor, the Corporations, and the Session He Wouldn't Call
A leaked cabinet meeting shows Governor Ferry weighing an extra legislative session against the wrath of corporations—and his own officials split over whether the state can wait.
- A $25,000 View, a Deed, and a Debt: The Land Fight South of Olympia
Ben Turner says George A. Barnes took an 80-acre donation-claim tract as mortgage security—then refused to deed it back after Turner tendered the money.
- Mount Baker Wakes: Smoke, a New Rent, and an Earthquake at Dawn
Smoke rises a thousand feet from the Twin Sisters and Mount Baker, a fresh quarter-mile crack opens in the mountain, and a predawn shock rattles Whatcom County residents.
- No Appropriation, No Warrants: Washington's 1891 Budget Standoff
The state treasurer refuses to honor university and militia warrants the legislature never funded, the Supreme Court backs him up, and Governor Ferry — in poor health — lets the idea of an extra session die.
- The Governor's Cabinet Meets as Washington's Bills Go Unpaid
With public servants holding $103,000 in IOUs, Olympia officials debate whether to call the legislature back for an emergency session.
- The Streetcar Builder Who Refused to Buy His Own Right of Way
J. R. Chaplin tells Olympia's council that asking his Westside Railway to purchase Block 48 would insult the enterprise promising the city its first mile of track.
- The Minister, the Miracle Cure, and Olympia's War on Drink
Rev. Napoleon Hoagland preached "salvation by science" at Tacoma Hall, touting Dr. Keeley's famous remedy for alcoholism and urging Olympia to raise money so the poor could be treated too.
- Olympia's High School Bond Fight, Priced at 25 Cents
The Tribune urges voters to approve a $40,000 school bond, rebutting claims of contractor influence and calculating the cost to a $7,000 homeowner at about a quarter.
- Two Red Boxes on Wheels: Olympia's Sorry Excuse for a Streetcar Line
The street railway's president has told the council he can keep the city tied up in court for two years. The Tribune suggests the new council simply take his franchise away.
- A Chicago Broker Returns to Find Olympia Unrecognizable
Away for more than two decades, I. I. Hackney marvels at the capital city's real-estate boom, new statehouse ambitions, and the wilderness he once knew as Tacoma.
- One Coal-Oil Dealer Is Holding Olympia's New Electric Railway Hostage for $10,000
The streetcar line is contracted, the rails are shipped and the crews are ready — but George Marvin Savage's outfit sits squarely in the middle of Main Street, and he will not budge for less than ten thousand dollars.
- Surveyors Find a Rich Country Behind a Brutal Trail
A government surveying party returns from Chehalis County with tales of an impassable road, a hotel meal that required a salmon spear, and soil and timber worth the misery.
- Tacoma’s Democrats Wake Up to a Republican City
A bitter municipal election leaves Tacoma’s O’Brien Democrats stunned, as Republicans take the mayor’s office and most of the council.
- The Late-Night Fight That Killed Washington's First University Building
A governor's-office showdown between the state auditor and the university building commission halted construction, left laborers unpaid, and pushed Olympia toward a special legislative session.
- Olympia’s Booster Year: Brick, Bridges and a 50,000-Person Promise
As 1891 closed, the capital city counted $3 million in new buildings, a record bridge, electric lights and new rail lines — and predicted 50,000 residents within a decade.