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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 16 |
| 1889 | 39 |
| 1891 | 25 |
| 1892 | 41 |
| 1893 | 49 |
| 1894 | 54 |
| 1895 | 89 |
313 stories matching low
- The Salmon-Trap Border War
Oregon fish officers arrested Washington fishermen for violating a Sunday closure—then found themselves indicted for kidnapping.
- Tree Limb Crashes Through Steamboat Cabin
A dangerous commute on the Snohomish River leaves a steamer damaged and its passengers shaken after a low-hanging tree limb shears the cabin roof.
- The Struggle for a State University
Professor M.W. Taylor defends the University of Washington against critics who claim the school is too low-standard to serve the state.
- The 1888 Tariff Scramble: How Labor Markets Dictated Washington's Future
A historic dispatch from 1888 Seattle reveals how workers and manufacturing interests in the Pacific Northwest saw their livelihoods tied directly to the political tug-of-war over trade policy.
- The Twenty-Dollar Warrant That Put Okanogan County’s Credit on Trial
A Seattle trust company sues over a tiny delinquent warrant, and county scrip buyers freeze purchases as officials try to move onto a cash basis.
- 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 Safety of City Lights
A San Francisco electrician tours Seattle's growing network of lights and warns that competition among workers leads to dangerous, sloppy wiring.
- A False Hotel Job and a 15-Year-Old's Narrow Escape
Ida Embertson came from Snohomish expecting work at the Northern Hotel. Police said U. Morton met her and took her to a lodging in a low district; both were arrested.
- Tacoma Beats the Electric Company in Court and Keeps Selling Cheap Light
A Pierce County judge ruled the city may supply its own electricity — and that the private Commercial Electric Light Company has no right to shut down a competitor whose prices are simply too low for it to match.
- The Great Beef Price Drop of 1893
Wholesale cuts fall to record lows, making meat affordable for the city's working poor during the lean winter.
- Laundry Worker Falls into the Dark Mud of the Bay
A late-night misstep behind a waterfront laundry lands an employee in the treacherous, tide-stripped mudflats.
- 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 City’s Strawberry Obsession
A local glut of strawberries has upended the market, left bakers with half-empty pie tins, and frustrated fruit merchants.
- City Leaders Accused of Sewer Scandal
Seattle's Board of Public Works is under fire for alleged mismanagement, incompetence, and waste during the city's massive sewer construction projects.
- The Commissioner Said There Was Work. The Unemployed Asked What It Paid.
Labor Commissioner Lamb reported no takers even for guaranteed hop work at Yakima—and conceded that pay for harvests, railroads and ditch digging was often low and uncertain.
- The Horror in the Cabin: A Tacoma Tragedy
A brutal murder of a fruit dealer in his sleep reveals the violent shadow of immigrant debt and desperation in 1892 Tacoma.
- The Fireboat That Saved the Northern Hotel
An insurance inspector in town to check Seattle's electrical wiring watched Monday night's fire — and credited the fireboat with stopping it from spreading.
- The 1891 Land Rush in Brooklyn Addition
While developers promised a suburban utopia with low down payments, the aggressive marketing tactics of the era reveal a housing market obsessed with rapid expansion and installment-plan speculation.
- Seattle's Streets Were Made of Wood. The Fight to Pave Them Was On.
A City Council vote for brick on Pike Street signaled the end of makeshift plank roads—if Seattle could stomach the first cost.
- A Disappearance from Providence Hospital
A patient suffering from nervous debility vanishes from his hospital room, leaving officials to fear he carried out threats of self-harm.
- The Boston Mob That Bought Seattle
A mysterious syndicate from the East Coast has quietly acquired over $75,000 worth of land around Lake Washington and downtown, sparking rumors of a coordinated takeover by wealthy outsiders.
- Salmon Cannery Standoff in Seattle
Striking fishermen clash with cannery owner George T. Myers over pay rates and the threat of low-wage labor replacement.
- The Struggle for Kamilchie: A Seattle Land Hustle
A classic 1891 promotional scheme disguised as news, pushing a new townsite as the necessary 'natural outlet' for the region's prosperity.
- Spanning the Columbia: The Great Northern's Engineering Triumph
A massive, gravity-defying cantilever bridge nears completion near Rock Island, marking a feat of railroad ingenuity.
- The Struggle to Survey Washington’s Wilds
A historic circular reveals the bureaucratic and financial hurdles homesteaders faced to prove their land claims in 1883.