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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 43 |
43 stories matching hill
- The Great Northern Snow Plow: President Hill’s Battle with the Cascades
While Seattle slept, railroad magnate James J. Hill fought a war against the elements, his train delayed by drifts and snowplows in a dramatic struggle that highlights the fragility of early 20th-century transit.
- The Saloon Wars: How Seattle’s Council Killed the Fight to Ban Bars from Residential Streets
In a heated March 1904 council meeting, reformers fought to keep saloons off streets where wives and children walked. The measure failed, revealing deep corruption and the powerful grip of liquor interests on city government.
- The Gold Rush Tycoon Who Pledged to 'Wear a Silk Hat' in Seattle
Jack Dalton, the legendary Yukon frontiersman and claim-jumper, buys land on Queen Anne Hill with plans to build a mansion and move his family from Alaska.
- Jim Hill’s Kanopolis Bluff: A Railway Empire in the Making
Great Northern President James J. Hill is quietly surveying a route through the Kanopolis Valley, sparking rumors that he intends to build up the area into a major hub rather than just passing through.
- The Great Northern’s $70,000 Lawsuit: How J.J. Hill’s Empire Clashed with the State
A bitter legal battle erupts between railroad magnate James J. Hill and W.V. Haynes over land rights at Smith Cove, revealing the intense struggle for control of Seattle’s waterfront.
- The Queen Anne Scandal: A Tramp’s Slander and the ‘Black Paws’ of Seattle
When a wandering journalist accused a local girl of plunging her cat into flour dough, it sparked a chaotic street confrontation on Queen Anne Hill that revealed the raw tensions of early 20th-century Seattle.
- The Mystery of the Smalley House Fires
A suspicious string of blazes on Queen Anne Hill has residents calling for a new fire station.
- The Iron Gateway: Seattle's 1890 Vision for a Grand Union Depot
A rare exchange between rail magnates James J. Hill and Northern Pacific leadership confirms the city's ambition to become the primary western terminal for transcontinental trade.
- The Million-Dollar Tug-of-War Over Seattle's Waterfront
When two railway titans clashed over the location of a union depot, Seattle's newspapers turned the city's future into a public spectacle of corporate ego and investigative scoops.
- 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 Mayor’s Gambit: Humes Defers to Council as Seattle Sweeps Away Its Gambling dens
In a rare moment of unified reform, the City Council has ordered the closure of all gambling houses and restricted saloons in the business district. Mayor Humes, citing legal ambiguity over the saloon ordinance but promising strict enforcement against lotteries, leaves the fate of Seattle’s vice industry to the police chief.
- The Phantom Arsonist of Queen Anne Hill
A grand residence on Highland Drive vanishes in a blaze, leaving investigators to wonder if a spurned enemy, a clumsy painter, or a spontaneous chemical reaction fueled the inferno.
- The Great Silver Heist: Burglars Strike Judge’s Home on Capitol Hill
Thieves bypassed a vigilant household to steal $500 worth of silverware from the residence of Judge J.A. Stratman, marking one of the most daring crimes in Seattle this month.
- The Price of a Circus: Seattle Council Fights Over 'Rubbing It All' for Big Top
In 1903, the City Council clashed over licensing fees for Ringling Bros., with one councilman arguing that theatrical companies already take enough money from the public.
- The Price of Tracks: Seattle’s Early Transit Struggles
Before the region was a sprawl of connected highways, the Seattle City Council engaged in a fierce debate over a new electric rail franchise, pitting public leverage against corporate expansion.
- The Queen Anne Streetcar Expansion
A new proposal for an electric street railway promises to connect Queen Anne Hill to the army post and Woodland Park, fueling local transit ambitions.
- Streetcar Collision Narrowly Missed Tragedy
A dangerous accident on Pike Street sparks local concern as a crowded Queen Anne hill car crashes into a depot line carriage.
- The Tragedy of the State Asylum
A grim tally of patient deaths at the Washington State asylum sparks questions about the treatment of vulnerable populations committed from King County.
- 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 Last Pioneer: Seattle’s Oldest Woman Faces the Poorhouse
Mrs. P.D. Maynard, a widow of the city's founding era, has been evicted from her rooming house and is now wandering the streets at age 73. With no family and dwindling resources, the community must decide whether to let one of Seattle’s earliest residents die in poverty or build her a home.
- The City’s Wallet vs. The Streetcar Barons: Seattle Votes on Who Owns the Rails
As fares rise and corporate power grows, Seattle councilmen debate a radical idea: municipal ownership of street railways to save taxpayers millions.
- The People’s Franchise: Seattle Rises Against the Streetcar Monopoly
In June 1899, hundreds of citizens packed Armory Hall to declare 'No More Franchises,' demanding that the city council stop selling off public rights-of-way to private railway companies without voter approval.
- The Klondike Gold Rush Arrives in Seattle
When the steamer Humboldt pulled into the Arlington Dock, it carried a fortune in gold dust and the dreams of men hoping to strike it rich in the North.
- 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 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.