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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 1 |
21 stories matching biggest
- The Rockefeller Land Grab: How a $2 Million Deal Bought Seattle’s Lakefront
In January 1891, the massive Lake Washington Belt Line Improvement Company, backed by John D. Rockefeller and former Governor Russell A. Alger, acquired nearly 13,000 acres of eastern Lake Washington shoreline for steel and iron works, signaling the dawn of heavy industry in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Day Seattle Swallowed 10,000 Strangers: The Great Fourth of July Flood
In 1888, the Territory of Washington threw its biggest-ever Independence Day celebration. Steamers arrived loaded with visitors until the streets were so packed that police could barely move. Here is how Seattle hosted a crowd that nearly burst its seams.
- The Tacoma Land Grab: How Rich Men Tried to Steal Washington’s Senate Seat
In January 1891, Seattle’s press rallied behind incumbent Senator Watson Squire against a rival backed by Tacoma’s wealthy elite, exposing a bitter battle over whether the state would be ruled by its people or its land barons.
- The Great Seattle Streetcar Consolidation
A multi-million dollar maneuver promises to unify the city's competing electric lines, potentially abandoning local power-houses in a massive quest for operational efficiency.
- Private Employment Agents Fight Back Against the City's Free Labor Bureau
Accused of swindling job-seekers, a Seattle employment firm blames organized labor and a union-backed city bureau for a campaign to put it out of business — and dares the city to investigate.
- Hop Growers Pledge Their 'Word and Honor' to Pay Pickers Less
With the hop market collapsing in the summer of 1894, growers from ten Puget Sound counties met at Puyallup and fixed a single price for picking — 65 to 75 cents a box, down from the dollar they had promised. Ezra Meeker, the valley's biggest grower, said out loud what the resolution implied: the pickers had no seat at the table.
- The Jefferson County Political Volcano
A local Democratic club launches a full-scale mutiny against the Collector of Customs, accusing him of cronyism and financial improprieties.
- The Mine That Wasn’t? A Captain Denies a Half-Million-Dollar Gold Swindle
An English capitalist’s suit against Alaska millionaires turned a Port Townsend sailing into a Pacific Coast sensation, with charges of swapped ore, gold-soaked drill cores, and a forceful denial from Capt. James Carroll.
- The Ghost of a Civic Dream: Seattle’s Lost City Hall
A century-old bequest for a grand municipal building sits unclaimed, as a local property owner laments the city's scattered, inefficient offices.
- The Midnight Raid on Seattle's Gambling Halls
A surprise police sweep through Seattle's gaming dens sends hundreds of players scrambling into the rainy streets, leaving gambling tools and jail cells in their wake.
- The Dealer in the Gambling Den
In the rowdy timber town of Sedro-Woolley, the local gamblers have found a unique way to keep the peace: replacing the standard rough-hewn card shark with a captivating young woman.
- The Newspaper Mill That Almost Came to Snoqualmie Falls
In 1895, New York's biggest papers looked west at cheap cottonwood and waterfall power—and a Seattle booster tried to close the deal.
- Cheers, Hisses and a Canal: The Night Tacoma Cheered the Ditch It Was Told Would Ruin It
At a packed Republican mass-meeting in Germania Hall, speaker after speaker dared the crowd to believe the Lake Washington canal would destroy Tacoma — and the crowd roared back that it would not.
- A Striking Day for Seattle Baseball
A railroad strike in Portland forced players to arrive exhausted and without gear, but the game went on to a roaring crowd of 3,500.
- Seattle Newsboys Take Tacoma by Storm
A pack of Seattle newsboys descends on the Interstate Fair, jeers a non-union print shop, climbs the roofs, and eats Chilberg’s restaurant out of house and home.
- The Fourth of July That Wasn't: Seattle's Flooded Festival
As the city prepares for its biggest celebration in decades, a relentless Pacific Northwest downpour threatens to wash away the fun—and the crops.
- The Architect Who Built Seattle’s Skyline (But Lost the Biggest Job)
In 1890, L.H. Fisher submitted plans for a magnificent new hotel that Denny himself called 'the most perfect of any submitted.' But cost concerns killed it—launching a career that would define Seattle's architecture.
- Utsalady Bay's Dream of a Great City
An 1890 advertisement pitches the deep-water harbor of Utsalady as the inevitable next metropolis of the Pacific Northwest.
- An 1891 Investor's Case for Utsalady
In 1891, real estate promoters pitched Utsalady as the inevitable future metropolis of the Puget Sound, promising that its deep-water harbor and timber wealth would eclipse every other city in the region.
- The Boomtown That Never Was: The Dreams of Utsalady
In 1891, real estate speculators pitched the small harbor town of Utsalady as a future metropolis destined to surpass Seattle.
- The Ghost City of Utsalady
In 1891, a developer touted Utsalady as a burgeoning industrial giant on the Sound, envisioning it as a 'second Seattle' fueled by timber, coal, and mineral wealth. History took a different path.