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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 5 |
22 stories matching imper
- The Push for Better Roads in Lewis County
Chehalis merchants and commissioners pivot from legislative talk to tangible road improvements to save winter trade.
- The Ghost of a Property Blunder
Years after a land sale to the federal government for a Seattle lighthouse, officials find a clerical error that threatens the entire title to the property.
- The City Hall Sewer Crisis
After intense debate, the Seattle City Council moves to settle a long-standing payment dispute with engineer Benezette Williams to ensure the completion of critical sewer infrastructure.
- The Struggle for Seattle's Water System
City leaders push for public control of the water works following a devastating fire and urban expansion.
- The Unwelcome Tax Man
A Seattle poll tax assessor describes the frustration and absurdity of tracking down residents in a city where the transient population and the immigrant community resisted his rounds.
- The People vs. The Senators: Washington’s Bold Demand for Direct Democracy
In a rare moment of unity, the state legislature sends a powerful message to Congress: stop letting politicians pick your senators. It’s time for the people to vote.
- The City’s Stinking Secret
In 1888, Seattle's growing pains were literally surfacing on the beach as inadequate sewers turned the bay into an open dumping ground.
- The Looming Water Crisis
A 1893 report warns that Seattle's pumping system is failing and proposes the Cedar River gravity system as the only way to meet the city's future needs.
- The Water Wars: Why Seattle Should Settle with Benezette Williams
As the city prepares to sue a private developer for rights to its own water and sewer plans, this editorial argues that compromise is cheaper than litigation—and essential for public health.
- The Dream of Homeownership in 1891
An early real estate pitch captures the Victorian-era obsession with property as a moral imperative.
- The Room That Built a City: Seattle’s Desperate Hunt for Business Space
As the population swells and applications for commercial space hit record highs, city leaders warn that without immediate construction, Seattle will lose its economic dominance to rivals who can offer room.
- Roslyn’s Miners Stood Together—and the Company Looked to Strikebreakers
When 650 Northern Pacific Coal Company workers refused a contract cut in July 1894, the company prepared to bring in Black miners under guard. In Roslyn, a home guard was already drilling.
- Seattle’s Water Fight: Pumping Queen Anne or Building for the Future
As Seattle’s reservoirs strain, Superintendent Andrew Jackson argues that waste, not supply, is the problem—and that the city’s pumping system is only a stopgap until a Cedar River gravity plan can be built.
- The Printer’s Panic: Will the Type-Setting Machine Steal Your Job?
A local compositor argues that fears of automation are overblown, predicting a future where machines assist rather than replace skilled labor in Seattle's printing industry.
- The Capitol Riots: How a Bribery Scandal Shook Washington’s First Legislature
In the halls of Olympia, Republican lawmakers turned on each other with fists and threats over a U.S. Senate seat, exposing a brazen attempt to buy votes that disgraced the young state.
- When Seattle's Taps Ran Dry, One Citizen Took the City to Task
A resident of the city's eastern heights petitions the Seattle City Council over empty pipes, fire risk, and water bills—with sarcasm aimed at every authority from City Hall to the White House.
- The $430,000 Question: King County's Treasurer Bond Fight
A taxpayers' committee demands commissioners reduce John Maple's bond and seat him as county treasurer, but the board says his sureties aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
- Eastern Washington Lawmakers Want Cheaper Freight and a Break on Taxes
Fresh from wheat country, representative-elect Moses Bull and Senator J. L. Roberts laid out their Olympia agenda: grain inspection, lower railroad rates, softer tax penalties, and leaner county government.
- The Fire Chief Who Ran for the Border
A telegram from British Columbia, a contested resignation, and a letter to the editor expose the perjury and naturalization fraud case that consumed Seattle City Hall.
- Fire Chief Ousted in Late-Night Commission Coup
A divided fire commission removes Chief Allen for 'incompetency' and taps ex-Chief Kellogg, prompting a furious protest from the mayor.
- Seattle's 1895 Warning: Secure Cedar River Water Before Private Speculators Do
City Engineer R. H. Thomson says Seattle's overworked pumps cannot survive another summer and urges the city to buy the Cedar River watershed, dams and reservoir sites while it still can.
- A Gavel, a Roar, and a Populist Ticket Born in Chaos
King County's People's Party convention at Turner Hall turned into a shouting, proxy-fighting, faction-splitting marathon—and buried Dr. J. Eugene Jordan and Jack McDonald on the way to nominating a ticket.