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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 9 |
9 stories matching distribut
- 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.
- Seattle’s Legal Housekeeping: The City Council Decides to Clean Up Its Own Act
In 1899, Seattle’s leaders admitted their laws were a mess and hired two experts to fix it—proving that bureaucratic confusion is an old problem.
- The Battle for the Post Office: Who Owns Seattle's Future?
As federal inspectors hunt for a site for a new U.S. Post Office, local property owners are scrambling to offer their buildings—revealing the intense competition for civic infrastructure and the high value of downtown real estate.
- The Girls Who Walked Out: Seattle’s Hidden Labor War
While the city boasts of its booming manufacturing sector and 'local industry,' a quiet but significant portion of its workforce—women in garment factories—are fighting for survival wages, revealing the stark gender divide in Seattle's economic boom.
- Snoqualmie Falls: The Dawn of Clean Energy in Seattle
A century before the green energy transition, the city’s early industry turned away from coal and toward the 'falling waters' of Snoqualmie to power a growing metropolis.
- The Quarantine of Tacoma: When a Hotel Became a Prison for Railroad Workers
In April 1898, a single case of smallpox in a Tacoma hotel triggered a massive quarantine that stranded dozens of railroad employees and paralyzed the city's transit network.
- 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 City Buried Its Own Mistake: Coroner’s Verdict Blames Seattle for Deadly Boiler Explosion
A coroner’s jury has issued a scathing indictment against the city of Seattle, its building inspectors, and a plumber for the negligence that led to a Tuesday night explosion. The verdict fixes blame on the municipality for allowing a dangerous steam heater beneath a public sidewalk without proper oversight.
- The Great Welcome: Seattle Plans a 'Rousing' Ovation for Returning War Heroes
Mayor Humes and city officials rally behind a public subscription to fund fireworks, banquets, and even a mock battle at Lake Washington to greet the Washington Volunteers returning from Manila.