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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 9 |
| 1889 | 32 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 35 |
| 1893 | 42 |
| 1894 | 28 |
| 1895 | 28 |
179 stories matching frame
- The Building Boom of 1889: Seattle’s Rapid Transformation
A look at the official building permits issued in May 1889, documenting the surge of brick and frame construction that was reshaping the city just weeks before the Great Seattle Fire.
- The Rapid Transformation of Pioneer Square
A weekly ledger of building permits reveals a city under construction, capturing the final boom years before the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
- Customs Officials Intercept Opium Shipment
Inspector John A. Plum uncovers a sophisticated smuggling operation involving opium hidden within a picture frame on a train bound for Montana.
- The City Stops the Build: Seattle's 1889 Fight Over 'Fireproof' Tent-Frames
When D.K. Baxter tried to erect three structures made of pipe frames and canvas on Yesler Avenue, the city inspector shut him down, triggering a tense legal stand-off over what constitutes a safe building.
- The Opium Smuggler's Revenge
A Whatcom man claims he was framed by corrupt officials in a botched smuggling sting, and he's ready to tell all in court.
- The Unlucky Blacksmith of Front Street
A routine building project in early Seattle ends in a chaotic tumble as a blacksmith shop collapses, sending tools and timber into the thoroughfare.
- Walla Walla's Downtown Blaze
A cluster of local businesses burns to the ground, highlighting the risks of early timber-frame architecture.
- The Great Northern Hotel Burned to the Ground in Mount Vernon
A three-story frame hotel near the depot was gone within minutes, and twenty-five lodgers barely escaped with their lives.
- The Fire Limit Fiasco: How Seattle’s Elite Dodged Safety Codes
While the city arrested drunks and fined sailors for minor infractions, two prominent developers built a frame house right inside the fire zone—and got away with it.
- The Great Constitutional Gamble: How Washington Will Become a State
With the enabling act signed, the territory prepares for a historic election in May to frame a constitution. The clock is ticking toward July 1st, when delegates will meet in Olympia to decide the fate of the new state.
- Fire Scare in Everett
A hardware store blaze threatened to consume a full city block of frame buildings.
- The Wells-Fargo Frame-Up
A detective agency is caught attempting to bribe a driver to falsely implicate two men in a $2,000 express heist.
- A Fireproof Infirmary for the Poor
After city officials refused to participate in a joint facility, the county moves forward with plans for a specialized, fireproof hospital at the poor farm.
- The Atheist of Sixth Street
A Seattle man is arrested for sending threatening, anti-religious letters to a local clergyman while attempting to frame his prosecution as a political attack.
- A Deadly Slip in the Window Cleaning Trade
A single workman faces severe, possibly life-threatening injuries after a window frame pulled away from a house on 12th Street.
- A Lamp Explodes and Firemen Are Trapped in a Third Avenue Blaze
An oil lamp exploded in a picture-frame shop at 1908 Third Street, burning its owner and trapping firefighters in a re-ignited wall of flame.
- The Great Reconstruction
A reporter recounts the feverish pace of laborers, bricklayers, and carpenters rebuilding Seattle following a massive fire.
- A Lamp, a Three-Story Frame, and Two Families in the Street
A predawn fire at Bismarck and Hanks streets in Lake Union leaves the Krieger and Masly families uninsured and out of their belongings.
- The Decoy in the Rubbish Heap: How Tacoma Residents Outsmarted a Private Detective
When a notorious private eye attempted to frame two young express employees for a phantom theft, their friends staged an elaborate performance to expose his heavy-handed tactics.
- The Forced Relocation of the Spokane Tribe
As winter approaches, government agents scramble to move Spokane families to the Coeur d'Alene reservation, offering small frame houses as an incentive.
- Early Morning Blaze Razes Lake Union Lodging House
A two-story frame building was gutted by fire early Saturday morning, displacing tenants and a local barber.
- Seattle Rebuilds: Schwabacher Block, Arlington Hotel Lead Construction Surge
Architects unveil plans for new commercial blocks, a school, and hospital expansions as Seattle enters a building frenzy.
- The Toll of the Pest House
Health Officer Limerick tallies the human cost of the smallpox epidemic in Snohomish.
- A Close Call for a Pioneer Landmark
A fire in a historic Second Street frame house—once the site of a renowned beer garden—was extinguished just before it could consume the structure.
- Lack of Communication Leaves Latona Business to Burn
A grocery store and home in the Latona neighborhood was lost to fire while the family could not reach the fire department.