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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 40 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 33 |
| 1893 | 43 |
| 1894 | 32 |
| 1895 | 43 |
205 stories matching level
- Twenty-Ton Cable Sinks into Pioneer Place
A massive power-house cable falls through a street-level planking, requiring hours of heavy lifting to recover.
- Third Street’s Sidewalk Standoff—and the Railings That Made It Worse
A street cut left storefronts stranded above grade. When the city tried to fix the sidewalks, property owners sued; when it put up railings, the block looked worse.
- The Battle for Lake Union's Waters
As water levels drop, the rivalry between two companies turns into a legal and physical brawl over the future of the Lake Union outlet.
- The Water That Wasn't There: Seattle's First Major Infrastructure Crisis
As the city prepares for its first major expansion, the Seattle Water Company announces a total shutdown of supply to upper levels, leaving residents and businesses in the dark.
- Thirty-Seven Miners Died Because They Stayed to Fight the Fire
A blaze in the Franklin coal mine sent smoke through the gangways on Aug. 24, 1894, killing 37 men and boys who thought they had time to escape.
- The Birth of the Skagit County Shingle Manufacturers' Association
Twelve local mills consolidate their power at Woolley, promising to fix prices and secure state-level influence.
- A Close Call in the Kitchen
A man’s attempt to dry his dynamite in a kitchen oven ends in a deafening, structure-leveling blast.
- A Doctor Traded His Drugstore for a ‘Level Bottom’ That Wasn’t
Dr. Van Dyke sued R. K. Latimer, claiming a Green River land swap was built on false promises about acreage worth far less than the store.
- L.H. Rogers Seeks King County Farmland, 1891
A look at the turn-of-the-century land speculation market in King County, where suburban tracts were sold as the path to prosperity.
- The Second-Hand Struggle
A thief attempts to sell stolen goods back to the store he just robbed, leading to a street-level brawl and a quick arrest.
- The Great Storm of 1894
A violent cyclone-like windstorm tears through Western Washington, leveling buildings and trapping citizens in the debris.
- Showdown at the National Guard Camp
A confrontation over drill tactics leads to an officer's arrest and a push to clear illegal liquor tents from the encampment.
- A Jury Called the Franklin Mine Fire Arson. Thirty-Seven Miners Were Already Dead.
A coroner's jury found that someone deliberately set the fire that suffocated 37 workers in the Franklin mine. The only survivor described how one opened door and one stopped fan turned the gangway into a death trap.
- Roslyn Jury Finds Mine Explosion Caused by Poor Ventilation
A coroner's jury blames deficient ventilation for the catastrophic mine explosion that claimed dozens of lives, while the company decries the inquest as one-sided.
- The City's Clever Solution for a Tricky Seattle Hillside
Engineer R.H. Thomson avoids expensive cutting by designing a split-level street for View Street, satisfying residents and the city council.
- The Supreme Court Halts Seattle's Street Grading
A landmark court ruling forces the city to stop leveling streets unless they pay damages to homeowners.
- The Mysterious Government Inspector
A Tacoma man claimed a high-level federal appointment in the Department of the Interior, shaking down friends for cash before federal officials exposed the scheme as a total fabrication.
- The Great Sidewalk Standoff of 1892
A Seattle clothier brandished a revolver and a trowel in a public skirmish over basement access, highlighting the messy street-level power struggles of early downtown Seattle.
- The Farmer Who Drowned a Valley
A drainage project meant to reclaim marshland turns a peaceful river into a recurring disaster zone for downstream farmers.
- The Waterfall That Broke the Poets: Snoqualmie’s Majestic Leap
A special correspondent describes the Snoqualmie Falls not as a mere tourist stop, but as a 'noble and striking natural wonder' that defies language, offering a glimpse into the rugged beauty of Washington Territory in 1888.
- A Close Encounter with a Cougar
Two young boys on a hunting trip in the Deschutes River valley survive an unnerving standoff with a massive mountain lion.
- The Newsboys' War Against the Ledger
Tacoma’s newspaper war turns street-level as organized newsboys mobilize to block the sale of a scab publication.
- A Massive Seven-Story Building Planned for First and Seneca
In a $90,000 real estate deal, a new landmark will soon rise on the downtown waterfront, featuring three stories of warehouse space below the street level.
- The Franklin Mine Dead Were Buried. Then the Miners Went Back Down.
A relief fund swells with donations from Eddyville millmen and Seattle readers as surviving miners reopen the levels that did not burn.
- The Price of Early Statehood
Fresh from statehood, Washington’s auditor warns of a looming floating debt and a chaotic tax system that left farmers and county officials struggling.