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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 9 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 12 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 1 |
32 stories matching char
- Anacortes Landmark Reduced to Ash
A mysterious morning fire consumes the Keystone Block, leaving behind only charred timber.
- The Youngest Was Saved; Three Children Died in the Embers
A two-story home in Wallula burned on the night of July 3, killing three of four grandchildren inside. The youngest child survived; the others were found in the charred ruins.
- The Ghost of the Burned Cabin
A suspected insurance fraud case grips 1892 Seattle after a mysterious fire leaves charred remains and a missing man in question.
- A Ghastly Find in the Ruins of the Spokane Mill
Construction debris yields the remains of a man presumed to be a victim of a fire from months prior.
- The Phoenix City: Seattle's Rapid Rebirth After the Great Fire
Just 18 months after the 1889 fire leveled the downtown, Seattle transformed from charred ruins into a modern metropolis of stone, steel, and electric streetcars.
- Tragedy at the Spokane Mill Company
A fire sparked by a hot journal in the Spokane Mill Company plant leaves workers dead and families grieving.
- The Lonely Death of John Mannette
A pioneer’s remains discovered in a clearing near the Puyallup River, leaving behind only questions about a solitary life.
- Scavenging in the Ashes
While Seattle recovers from the Great Fire of 1889, opportunists sift through the debris of the burned post office in search of mail—and valuables.
- The Pride of the Sound Lost to Fire
Seattle’s fastest steamer, the Flyer, is reduced to a charred hull in a spectacular midnight harbor blaze.
- The Fire at Conconnully
A saloon proprietor is found dead in the ashes of his building, sparking suspicions of a cold-blooded murder for profit.
- Roslyn Relief Fund Grows as Miners' Families Struggle
Seattle rallies for the widows and orphans of the catastrophic Roslyn mine explosion, while investigators confront the reality of corporate negligence and the brutal nature of the disaster.
- The Struggle for Water: Seattle’s 1889 Great Rebuilding
While the city charred in the aftermath of the Great Fire, citizens turned their eyes to a vital, contentious civic project: building a public water system.
- A Miraculous Survival Amid the Ruins
While clearing debris after the Great Seattle Fire, a worker narrowly avoids being crushed when a wagon overturns on the precarious streets of the charred city.
- The Fatal Lock: A Mother’s Visit, a Father’s Work, and Two Children Burned Alive
In January 1893, a house fire at the Kinyon mills in Tacoma claimed the lives of two young children left alone inside. The tragedy highlights a grim era where child safety was often secondary to labor demands.
- The Tragedy at the Red Front
A late-night fiddler perishes in an Everett lodging house fire that leaves downtown businesses in ruins.
- Tragedy in North Seattle: A Father’s Desperate Attempt to Save His Children
After a midnight fire engulfs their home, a grieving father is left to mourn three young children, sparking a local relief effort among neighbors.
- The Rancher and the Charred Remains
When a successful Seattle chicken rancher is found burned to death in his home, a local detective follows a trail of missing money, mining stocks, and a suspicious 'friend' to uncover a grim murder mystery.
- The Phoenix of the Pacific: Seattle Three Years After the Great Fire
Reflecting on the 1889 conflagration, the city celebrates its rapid transformation from a pile of smoldering ruins into a booming commercial metropolis.
- The Sawdust in Your Spice Cabinet
A Seattle newspaper exposé from 1888 reveals that the city's food supply was being systemically poisoned by greed, with sawdust in spices and grease in butter.
- The Ghost of William Radloff
A Seattle poultry farmer appears to have staged his own death in a house fire to claim a $55,000 insurance payout, leaving investigators to wonder if the charred remains in the ruins were those of a stolen corpse.
- The Tragedy at Virginia Street
A grisly discovery on the Seattle waterfront exposes the hidden desperation of 1889.
- The Great Seattle Rebuild: How the 1889 Fire Transformed the City
In the chaotic days following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city raced to replace charred ruins with brick, while grappling with the ethical dilemma of redirecting disaster relief funds intended for distant cities.
- Rising from the Embers: Ellensburg's Rapid Rebirth
After a devastating fire consumed the heart of the city in July 1889, the community transformed from a charred wasteland into a brick-fronted city in just two months.
- The Great Seattle Fire of 1889: Organizing Relief Amidst Chaos
Following the cataclysmic fire that leveled downtown, city officials and volunteer committees scrambled to house the displaced and maintain order in the charred remains of the district.
- A Forty-Foot Leap From a Burning Lodging House
A predawn blaze in a Terrace Street rooming house forces immigrant laborers to jump from windows; one is likely fatally injured.