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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 30 |
30 stories matching develop
- The Snow That Stole the Gold: Snohomish County’s Mining Boom Hits a Wall
Arthur Hank, a prominent local investor, returns from Snohomish County with news of rich ore deposits—but warns that an unprecedented winter is halting development just as the region stands on the brink of becoming a major mining center.
- The Fight to Protect Seattle’s Tap Water
A century ago, city engineers were already sounding the alarm about protecting the Cedar River watershed from industrial development and pollution to ensure a clean supply for a growing city.
- The Day Smallpox Walked the Streets: How One Man’s Ignorance Sparked Spokane’s Deadliest Epidemic
A drunk man wandering through downtown Spokane with a rash on his face nearly triggered a disaster that killed hundreds—until a sharp-eyed pharmacist stepped in.
- The Gold Rush That Never Was: How Canadian Laws Stifled Seattle’s Northern Dream
A Victoria contractor tells the Star that new British Columbia legislation has turned away American miners, leaving Alaska's gold fields dark and local businesses in ruins.
- The Great Seattle Streetcar Franchise Fight: Why Short Leases Save the City
As city councilors debate a controversial 40-year lease for street railway operations, The Seattle Star argues that short-term concessions are the only way to prevent corporate greed from strangling public transit.
- The Great Cigar Conspiracy: Seattle Swept Up in Federal Raid
Federal agents seize 12,000 counterfeit cigars in the city's tenderloin, exposing a massive fraud ring stretching from Pennsylvania to the Pacific Northwest.
- The $100,000 Flip: How a Seattle Speculator Made a Fortune on the Corner of Pike and Pioneer
While the city debates housing affordability, a quiet real estate deal reveals how early developers turned modest lots into massive wealth in just one year.
- The Boy Who Swallowed a Peanut: A Two-Month Ordeal
A Seattle teenager’s life hangs in the balance after a gust of wind forces a nut into his lung, leading to a dramatic surgical rescue.
- The Great Skilled Labor Shortage: Why Seattle’s Builders Are Paying $4 a Day
As construction booms in Magnolia and Bellevue, local employers are desperate for carpenters and masons, driving wages up to unprecedented levels.
- The Nightmare Murder: Tacoma Wife Killed by Husband in Sleep
An inquest reveals that Charles Corey strangled his wife while suffering from a nightmare, sparking debate over whether he was guilty of murder or merely a victim of his own subconscious.
- The Horseless Age Arrives in Seattle
As public interest in motor vehicles sweeps the nation, Seattle’s streets begin to transition from hooves to horsepower.
- 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 Brick and the Ballot: Wenatchee’s Fight for County Status
As the legislature carves out a new county from Chelan and Kittitas territories, local developers donate a brick courthouse to secure the seat of power in a town on the rise.
- The Great Pigeon Whiskey Heist
A Seattle police officer's bungled attempt to intoxicate local church pigeons ends in his own humiliation.
- The Girl Who Vanished: A Seattle Mystery of Despair and Deceit
In June 1903, a young woman died under mysterious circumstances near Yesler Way, leaving behind only a few dollars and a card from a Pike Street lodging house. Was she an orphan in distress, or a fraud hiding her past?
- 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.
- The City That Forgot How to Ride: Seattle’s Battle for Short-Term Streetcar Franchises
In May 1899, the Seattle Star warned that granting long-term monopolies to street railway companies would leave the city trapped with obsolete technology and inflated prices. The paper argued fiercely for short-term grants to keep corporations accountable—a debate that echoes in today’s transit infrastructure battles.
- The Yukon Shortcut: Seattle’s New Gold Rush Gateway
A new bonded railway and customs arrangement allows Seattle merchants to ship goods directly to the Klondike without paying duties at the Canadian border, putting the city on equal footing with Victoria.
- The Mayor’s Raid: Seattle’s Gambling Houses Shut Down in One Night
Mayor Hume and Police Chief Sullivan execute a council resolution, closing every known gaming parlor in the city. Was it moral reform or a power play against saloon owners?
- The Tragedy at Yesler Way: A Lawyer’s Death and a Woman’s Despair
In May 1904, prominent Seattle lawyer J. Wile was fatally shot by Miss Burke, who then took her own life in a rooming house near the waterfront.
- The Gold Rush Comes to Town: Klondikers Unload Millions in Seattle
As the first steamers of the season dock at Pier 52, miners from Dawson City bring fortunes in gold dust and nuggets, turning Seattle’s waterfront into a temporary vault for the Yukon's wealth.
- The Dry Dock Dispute: How One Man Blocked Seattle's Homecoming Heroes
Seattle citizens are furious that Acting Secretary of War Meiklejohn refused to send the First Washington Volunteers directly from Manila to Port Orchard, citing Naval Constructor Endicott’s claim that the local dry dock was useless.
- Seattle’s City Council Rejects Public Power in Favor of Private Monopoly
In a decisive vote that prioritized corporate interests over municipal control, Seattle leaders refused to condemn the city's water supply, effectively handing power to private developers.
- The Franchise Fight: Seattle’s Battle for Control of the Streets
As the Corporation Committee prepares to report on the street railway franchise, a fierce debate erupts over whether the city should sell its public assets to private developers for 40 years or keep them in public hands.
- The Policeman, the Whiskey, and the Sober Pigeons
A Seattle officer's attempt to trap church-dwelling pigeons using liquor-soaked corn ended in a hilariously humiliating failure when the birds refused to lose their composure.