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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 78 |
78 stories matching busi
- The Rent Trap: Why Seattle's Business District Is Running Out of Room
As the city booms post-fire, merchants find themselves priced out of First Avenue, forced to migrate up Third and beyond in a desperate search for affordable space.
- The Pioneer Who Couldn't Stay Put
Captain Charles Hopkins, a veteran of the Mexican War and early Seattle businessman, dies at his home on Terry Avenue. His life was a series of moves from San Francisco to Milwaukee to Portland, yet he remained one of the Northwest's most recognizable figures.
- The Widow Who Lost Her Groom (and Her Money) to a Man in Seattle
A San Francisco widow sues a local man for $2,000 after he vanished with her funds meant for his surgical instrument business, leaving her heartbroken and broke.
- The Day the Cracker Kings Merged: How Seattle’s Sweetest Monopoly Was Born
In May 1904, a consolidation of biscuit factories created a new corporate giant with $250,000 in capital, signaling the end of local competition and the rise of concentrated industrial ownership in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Match King’s Monopoly: How Edwin Gould Bought Seattle’s Competition
A look at the massive consolidation of the American match industry by J.P. Morgan’s ally, Edwin Gould, and what it means for local manufacturers.
- The $12.50 Gold Rush: How a Railroad Rate War Flooded Seattle with Hope and Skepticism
As Canadian Pacific slashes fares to half the price of American lines, local merchants debate whether the coming wave of homeseekers will build the city or break it.
- The Seattle-Tacoma Shipyard Feud
How Seattle’s industrial might secured a major contract for the transport ship 'Victoria,' leaving Tacoma business leaders fuming.
- The Seattle Star’s Bold Prediction: Cable Cars, Real Estate Booms, and the 'Famine' of Housing
In March 1899, the city's leading paper championed new transit infrastructure as the key to unlocking a real estate boom, while simultaneously warning of a severe shortage of homes for newcomers.
- The Mediums' Trust: When Seattle's Spiritualists Tried to Fix Their Prices
A secret meeting of clairvoyants and mediums ended in failure as new arrivals undercut their rates, proving that even the spirit world is subject to market forces.
- The Banker Who Built a City: The Death of Joseph R. Hughes
A pioneer hardware merchant and federal land officer dies in Republic, leaving behind a legacy of civic leadership and the founding of the town's first bank.
- The Vanishing Agent: Duncan Inverarity’s Flight from Justice
A trusted local savings bank agent absconds with $1,500, leaving Seattle to evade arrest in Victoria.
- The Million-Dollar Divorce: How a Seattle Man’s Secret Fortune Changed a Woman’s Fate
In 1899, the divorce of Cordell McKee and his first wife didn't just end a marriage—it triggered a legal battle over $100,000 that exposed the hidden wealth of one of Seattle's most prominent businessmen.
- The City That Forgot Its Own Port: Seattle’s Fight for Military Logistics
In 1903, local officials and business leaders railed against the War Department’s decision to route troops bound for the Philippines through San Francisco instead of Puget Sound, arguing that geography and economic destiny were being ignored by distant bureaucrats.
- Seattle Braces for the T.P.S.C.V. Convention: A City of 150,000 Guests
As delegates from across the West begin to arrive, local committees scramble to house and feed a massive influx of visitors for the upcoming Temperance convention.
- Seattle's Moral Crusade Against 'Indecent' Literature
Local news dealers face legal threats unless they pull racy publications like 'The Police Gazette' and 'The New York Telegraph' from their stands.
- Seattle Bookkeeper Ad Draws One Absurdly Overqualified Applicant
A desperate job seeker responds to a meager help-wanted ad with a resume that puts modern multitasking to shame.
- The Great Wire War: How Seattle’s Electric Giants Tried to Buy Their Way Out of the Underground
When the City Council threatened to bury power lines underground, Union Electric and Consumers’ Electric screamed ruin. But the real drama wasn't the wires—it was the council dodging a crowd of gamblers and churchgoers demanding saloon closures.
- The Industrial Grasp on Public Space
A Seattle business owner petitions to close a city block to make room for his growing lumber factory, sparking a debate on private gain versus public infrastructure.
- The Battle for the Transport Outfits
A scramble between Seattle and Tacoma merchants for the lucrative business of supplying the government transport vessel 'Albert' reveals the early friction of regional economic rivalry.
- The Pioneer Who Built Seattle’s Timber Empire
William M. Fulton, a lumber magnate who shaped the city’s early economy, has died at his Jackson Street home.
- The Hall That Never Was: Seattle’s $1 Million Dream for a Convention Center
In 1908, prominent businessmen and editors rallied to build a massive exposition hall to rival San Francisco, but the project stalled in debate over public funding versus private capital.
- The Mobbing of the Moralizers
When four prominent temperance leaders and a local businessman tried to close down a suspected illegal saloon, they were met on the street and pelted with rotten eggs.
- The Price of a Commuter's Collision
After a devastating streetcar accident in downtown Seattle, a victim sues the transit company for $10,000 in damages.
- The Madison Street Midnight Escape
A Seattle grocer skips town in the dead of night, leaving behind a shop full of unpaid bills and curious neighbors.
- The Great Odd Fellows Sleep-In: A Night of Fractured Rituals in Seattle
When the Grand Lodge of Odd Fellows convened in June 1909, a bizarre mix of procedural delays and social distractions turned a solemn ceremony into a chaotic spectacle that spilled onto the dance floor.