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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 30 |
| 1889 | 84 |
| 1891 | 28 |
| 1892 | 110 |
| 1893 | 132 |
| 1894 | 171 |
| 1895 | 62 |
617 stories matching done
- The Customs Collector and the Straw Men of Puget Sound
A Tacoma official accuses Collector J. C. Saunders of padding the customs payroll with political workers—including a no-show inspector—for work never done at the Interstate Fair.
- Seattle's Sewers Were Cracking All Over Town — and the City Engineer Blamed the Dirt
A furious letter writer insists the pipes broke not from 'percussion' but from the very worst kind of trench work — and points the finger straight at the man in charge.
- The Warden Fights Back: Prison Labor, Jute Sacks and a Seattle Newspaper Scandal
Accused of selling prison-made sacks to middlemen and brutalizing convicts, Walla Walla’s warden answers his critics with a detailed defense—and a challenge to inspect the prison.
- The $8,000 Schoolyard Fight
A losing contractor accuses Seattle’s school board of steering a South School grounds contract to a favored bidder and wasting taxpayer money. The board fires back that the cheapest bids were unsafe and that a $25,000 schoolhouse was at risk of falling.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- The Rifle War: Knights of Labor vs. Mine Owners in Newcastle
A bitter feud between rival labor unions in King County erupts into armed conflict, with rifles smuggled from Seattle to support striking miners.
- The Party Says Not Guilty—and Cheers the Man It Removed
Seattle Democrats put their scandal-scarred administration on trial at Haake's Hall, buried a First Ward delegate fight, and sent David E. Durie into the mayor's race while J.M. Wolfe got the ovation.
- Starvation Wages and a Broken Light Contract: Seattle's Lower House Erupts
Delegates demand answers on Pike Street paving, city jobs parceled out by foremen, Kilbourne Avenue subcontracting, and the gas-electric company's failure to light the city.
- King County Lawmakers Want to Cut the Budget—and Railroad Rates
Ahead of the 1901 legislative session, King County’s representatives outline a shared agenda: slash state expenses, abolish useless commissions, lower railroad freight and passenger rates, and create a state grain inspector to protect farmers from brokers.
- The Mayor Who Refused to Apologize: A Retiring Councilman’s Bold Farewell
In a rare display of civic integrity, R.C. Macon tells Seattle's City Council he has 'no apologies to make' for his tenure, setting the stage for a contentious battle over the city clerkship.
- Seattle’s Own: How Local Capital Built the Denny Hotel Without Asking for Help
While other cities relied on outside investors or government subsidies, Seattle’s promoters raised the full capital for the new Denny Hotel in just four days through a grassroots campaign of local shareholders.
- The War on the Hop Louse
Prominent farmer Ezra Meeker warns that local growers must act immediately to spray their crops or face total ruin.
- The Mayor Fires Two Police Commissioners to Keep Blackchapel Shut
In a single day, Mayor Phelps removed two police commissioners, accused them of conspiring to protect a red-light district and oust Chief Rogers, and installed replacements before the House of Delegates could slow him down.
- The Great Reconstruction: Seattle’s Waterfront Rises from the Ashes
Less than a month after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city’s wharves are a hive of frantic, round-the-clock labor to restore the vital commerce of the Pacific.
- “You Are the Man That Done It All”: A Murder Trial Witness Loses His Temper
The Hayward murder trial turned electric when a stubborn witness faced the accused across the courtroom—and the defense could not shake him.
- The $10,000 Bet That Built Seattle’s Front Street
Superintendent Thompson risks a fortune to beat the calendar, while a separate land dispute erupts over tide flats near Grant Street.
- Hop Growers Pivot to Families as Labor Crisis Looms
With smallpox concerns keeping Indigenous pickers away, farmers in White River and Puyallup valleys appeal to white families to harvest the crop.
- Seattle Voters Topple the 'Tammany' Machine in a Republican Landslide
A sweeping 1894 municipal election repudiates a corrupt city government, a boss named John Collins, and a looted treasury — with Democrats joining the revolt.
- Seattle's Bid to Steal the Grain Trade From Tacoma
Boosters want $75,000 in stock to build a North Seattle grain elevator and a 600-foot wharf — and snatch the Asian shipping business from Tacoma.
- The 1895 Push to Split Seattle From King County
A Chamber of Commerce meeting with new state legislators turned into a drive to separate Seattle from King County—and to force the school board to live within its means.
- Three Bickering Land Departments, Millions in Tide Lands, and a Demand for Answers
A state land commissioner admits the tide-land situation is 'chaotic in the extreme' and calls for a no-whitewash legislative probe — warning that divided authority is an open door to corruption.
- The City Hall Clean Sweep
Mayor Ronald's municipal 'reforms' see a swift firing of city staff to make room for Democratic appointees.
- When Seattle Was Coal Country
A detailed 1895 survey shows King County leading Washington's coal output, with Seattle shipping fuel to California, Oregon, and the Midwest—while labor troubles and spontaneous mine fires shadowed the boom.
- The Struggle to Keep Seattle Clean in 1888
As Seattle prepared for a massive influx of tourists for a summer celebration, one citizen publicly shamed the city's leadership for allowing its streets to remain a cluttered, hazardous mess of construction debris.
- Seattle's Chamber Tries to Get Tacoma on Board for a Ship Canal
In 1894, Seattle's business leaders asked their Tacoma counterparts to endorse a Lake Washington-to-Puget Sound waterway and petition Congress for the project.