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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 13 |
| 1889 | 29 |
| 1891 | 21 |
| 1892 | 28 |
| 1893 | 26 |
| 1894 | 8 |
| 1895 | 4 |
129 stories matching era
- The Day Washington Was Born: A City Holds Its Breath
As the nation celebrates statehood, Seattle gathers in a packed hall to hear speeches on liberty, land fraud, and the future of the 'Queen City.'
- The Great Statehood Jubilee: Washington Takes Its Seat at the Table
As President Cleveland signs the admission bill on Lincoln’s birthday, Seattle celebrates the end of the territorial era and the dawn of sovereign self-governance.
- The Iron Rush: How a New Railroad Branch Promised to Transform Seattle
As crews race to lay track toward the Idaho mines, the business elite of 1889 Seattle brace for a new era of growth and shipping dominance.
- The Road That Was Supposed to Build the Puget Sound Country
A canvasser reports that Seattle merchants back a permanent state road to Tacoma, promising winter travel, jobs for working men and a rush of small-holding settlement.
- When Seattle Won the Transcontinental Sweepstakes
In 1890, the Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Union Pacific converged on Seattle, transforming the city from a remote settlement into a global Pacific terminus.
- The Great Northern Reaches the Sound
A celebratory train marks the completion of the Great Northern railway line into Seattle, signaling a new era of regional connectivity.
- The Last Spike for the Great Northern
Without fanfare, the transcontinental link is finished in the Cascades, promising a new era for Seattle.
- The Brutal Doctrine of 'Root Hog or Die'
A Seattle newspaper editorial argues for the forced assimilation and dispossession of Indigenous people, mirroring the era's harshest colonial policies.
- The Great Northern's First Departure
Seattle celebrates as the first through passenger train to St. Paul departs Marion Street, marking a new era of transcontinental connection.
- The Shingle Trust Flexes Its Muscles in Tacoma
Ninety percent of the Pacific Northwest shingle industry convenes to fix prices and freeze out jobbers, signaling a new era of regional corporate dominance.
- The 1894 Railroad Strike Reaches Seattle—and the Militia Digs In
As the great Pullman-era railroad strike collapses in Washington, saboteurs burn trestles on the Northern Pacific, federal troops and the revenue cutter Grant move in, and Seattle's Civil War veterans pledge themselves to 'law and order.'
- The 'Ticket-of-Leave' Law: A New Era of Exclusion
New federal legislation mandates that Chinese laborers must register and carry certificates to remain in the country, a move critics denounce as treaty-breaking.
- Railroad Giant Declares Bankruptcy
The Northern Pacific Railroad has been placed into receivership, signaling a major shift in Northwest transit and land development.
- The Man in the Red Drawers
A distressed man wielding a saw causes a scene in the streets of South Seattle, highlighting the era's lack of support for those in mental crisis.
- 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 Trial That Shook Tacoma: The Scandal of Sadie Brantner and Judge Wickersham
A dramatic courtroom battle in the late 1880s reveals a web of sexual politics, professional ethics, and character assassination involving a prominent probate judge and a young woman accused of immorality.
- Seattle's Burnt District Rebuilds in Brick After 1889 Fire
Following the Great Seattle Fire, the city's burnt district transforms as brick blocks replace wooden ruins and the city plans for a modern infrastructure.
- The Great Seattle Land Rush: How 1890 Rewrote the Map
Newly unearthed records from 1890 show a city transforming through massive real estate speculation, where plots bought for hundreds were suddenly worth tens of thousands.
- The Desert Blooms: Ellensburg's Massive Irrigation Project
A multi-million dollar canal project is set to transform thousands of acres of sagebrush into fertile farmland, signaling an era of prosperity for Kittitas Valley.
- Spokane Women Form Protective Association
Nearly 300 women crowded into court to demand justice for a victim of sexual assault, signaling a new era of civic activism.
- Hard Times Force Railroads Toward a Monopoly
Financial desperation drives the competing lines of the Pacific Northwest to consider an end to expansion and a new era of joint operation.
- The Business of Governing
A crowded rally at the Armory showcases the 'Citizens' Municipal League' attempting to wrestle control of Seattle from the grip of party machines.
- An Undocumented Arrival in Whatcom
A Chinese man found hiding in a tool box on a rail car bound for Seattle illustrates the brutal reality of the Exclusion era.
- Seattle’s ‘Palace of Trade’: 10,000 Crowd the Rialto’s Opening Night
A Boston-backed department store at Second and Madison threw open four floors of retail spectacle, declaring Seattle had arrived on the Pacific Coast.
- The Town That Had Two Sets of Politicians
After a court ruling legalized Oakesdale's incorporation, the town suddenly found itself with two competing governments and a Populist council at odds with its own citizens.