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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 17 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 11 |
| 1893 | 19 |
| 1894 | 18 |
| 1895 | 45 |
117 stories matching map
- Who Drew Tacoma's Harbor Lines? A New Affidavit Deepens the Tide-Land Fight
As Tacoma and the Northern Pacific fought over the waterfront, a witness swore he saw a Tacoma Land Company representative preparing the very maps the state used to fix the harbor line.
- The Unbuilt Map of Everett
A civil engineer sues the city’s founding land baron for $11,000, claiming he was cheated out of the original survey contract and the right to sign his name to the town’s birth certificate.
- The Railroad Finally Calls It Mount Rainier
Under pressure from a newspaper expedition and the U.S. Board of Geographic Names, the Northern Pacific abandons 'Mount Tacoma' in its maps and ads.
- The Tall Tale of the Olympic Mountain Silver Mine
A notorious character in Los Angeles claims a skeleton, a secret diary, and a map have led him to a mountain of solid silver near Lake Cushman.
- The Map That Erased a Business on the Seattle Waterfront
Property owners revolt as tide-land appraisers redraw the shore and wipe an upland business house off the map.
- Puget Sound Pilots Consult Weather Maps
Masters and pilots embrace modern weather science to predict storms, with real estate agents also tracking data for property viewings.
- Seattle’s Yesler Donation Claim Goes on the Auction Block
An administrator petitions to carve 86 lots out of Sarah B. Yesler’s donation claim to settle an estate drowning in debt and taxes.
- The Promised Land at the Confluence
A high-stakes real estate pitch from 1889 promises investors a fortune as Pasco positions itself as the 'Gate City' of the Pacific Northwest.
- Tacoma Fights the Railroad for Its Own Waterfront
At a state land commission hearing, city officials and citizens demand a wider public harbor line to keep the Northern Pacific and Tacoma Land Company from controlling the waterway.
- The Messy Business of Mapping the Waterfront
A state land commission discovers chaotic record-keeping that effectively clouded the titles to Jefferson County’s prime waterfront property.
- What and Where Is Puget Sound?
A church naming dispute over a new Episcopal bishopric spirals into a history lesson on the waterway's true boundaries — and how mapmakers, old settlers and Congress each drew the line differently.
- The Settler's Victory Against the Northern Pacific
A landmark Secretary of the Interior decision in 1888 effectively blocked the Northern Pacific Railroad from seizing 'indemnity' lands held by Washington homesteaders.
- The Paper Street Feud
A homeowner fights a developer over a phantom street that appeared on a map but vanished on the ground.
- One Street, Eight Names: The Tide-Land Map That Broke Seattle's Addresses
When the tide-land appraisers published their new plat, they named the filled waterfront after the states and the big cities — ignoring every street already on the ground. City Engineer Thomson's renaming scheme collapsed on the spot.
- The State Moved the Line, and the Waterfront Went With It
Tide-land owners at Port Angeles say they filled in the harbor in good faith, paid their money, and then learned the state had redrawn the meander line to swallow the most valuable frontage — and that the attorney general now refuses to issue their deeds.
- The Capital Cut Off
For twenty-four hours, the state capital of Olympia was completely erased from the Northern Pacific maps, leaving residents to wonder if their train line had simply ceased to exist.
- Whatcom Republicans Map Out Election Strategy
Local GOP leadership gathers to resolve disputes over district representation and candidate nominations ahead of the upcoming county convention.
- The Purging of 'Whitechapel'
The Seattle City Council and local newspapers clash over the city’s attempt to erase a notorious downtown red-light district from the map.
- The Great Boulevard Feud
A former city attorney accuses real estate speculators of using park plans to drive up land values.
- The City Engineer Who Jumped: Seattle’s Mental Health Crisis in 1889
Ira Lockeard, the man who helped map the post-fire city, was committed to an asylum after leaping into Elliott Bay, revealing the hidden toll of labor and trauma on early civic leaders.
- The Riverfront Battle in Hoquiam
Harbor commissioners prepare to hear grievances over the control of the Hoquiam riverfront, an ongoing dispute between private industry and public interest.
- The Vision for a Central Park
Superintendent Schwagerl plans to transform a forty-acre ridge tract into an exposition of native Washington flora and a scenic reservoir.
- Tacoma Officials Accuse Land Commission of Favoring the Land Company
City leaders head to Olympia to challenge harbor lines they say were drawn to benefit the Tacoma Land Company rather than the city.
- City Hall's Quarantine Deadlock
As the Board of Health scrambles to map an imaginary quarantine line for cholera, the city's inability to pay for basic sanitation has created a public health crisis.
- The Struggle for Suburban Stability in 1891 Seattle
Advertisements for installment-plan housing plots reflect the anxiety of a growing city where 'hard times' pressured residents to settle in rapidly developing suburbs like Medina.