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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 8 |
| 1893 | 11 |
| 1894 | 2 |
29 stories matching obsess
- The Despair of a Radical Reformer
A disillusioned printer and Populist activist ends his life at his ranch near Union City, leaving behind a letter decrying the lack of sympathy in a money-obsessed world.
- The Tragic End of Marie Story
A teacher of vocal music is murdered in her Seattle home by an obsessed suitor, sparking a city-wide conversation about stalking and accountability.
- Tragedy at the Central Theater
A young man shoots a local actress before taking his own life in a violent act of obsession.
- The Unstable Fruit Stand Proprietor
A Seattle man is arrested after threatening to murder his wife and daughter while obsessed with a news story about a local murder-suicide.
- The Great Dimple Scandal
A jealous husband, a mysterious package, and a 19th-century beauty obsession gone wrong in an upper-crust Seattle home.
- The Wizard of the Great Northern
How James J. Hill built a continental railroad empire by hand, one trestle at a time.
- The Tacoma Murder-Suicide
A father kills his daughter and himself, leaving behind a trail of letters and a dark, complicated history in the Pacific Northwest.
- A Fatal Cocktail on Pike Street
A railroad foreman, suffering from heavy drinking and paranoid delusions about his son, takes his own life in a downtown boarding house.
- The Delusions of Martin Krop
A young laborer's unrequited obsession with a stranger leads to his commitment at the insane asylum.
- A Twelve-Year-Old's Calculated Ambush
Blaming '10-cent literature' for his actions, a young boy attempted to murder his neighbor in a planned attack near Mondovi.
- The Trial of Ursula Boyd: A Labyrinth of Coercion
A woman stands trial for the murder of the man who, according to her testimony and a cache of intimate letters, forced her into prostitution and systematic blackmail.
- The Tragedy at the Marion Street Rooming House
A discarded lover murders a popular music teacher in her home before turning his gun on himself, leaving her two children orphaned.
- The Tragedy of a 'Model' Citizen
A wealthy man's obsession with his wife's supposed infidelity leads to a dramatic, morphine-fueled insanity trial.
- 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.
- The Perpetual Motion Inventor's Wild Night
Dr. Hannibal Mills, a local crank obsessed with his 'perpetual motion' machine, shoots a saloon keeper after a drunken argument.
- The Celebrity Cult of the Gilded Age
A writer in 1888 questions the bizarre, sycophantic public obsession with the ultra-wealthy, who are 'petted in Belgravia' simply for their riches.
- The Tragic End of Etta Harris
A daughter is murdered by her own father in Tacoma, exposing a twisted history of obsession, jealousy, and fatal control.
- The Palouse Massacre: A Family Destroyed by Religious Mania
A farmer takes his own life after killing his wife and children in a brutal religious mania, leaving a chilling note behind.
- The Final Preparation at the Grand Pacific Hotel
A Kentucky native obsessed with order cleanses himself and meticulously arranges his affairs before ending his life.
- 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.
- The Shadow of the Lake Union Tunnel
After years of obsession with a major public works project, a retired worker takes his own life during a period of deepening despondency.
- The Shadow of the Giants: A Victorian Obsession with Stature
A century before global social media, Seattle newspaper readers were served serialized curiosities about the world's 'tallest men'—a blend of anthropological fact, tall tales, and traveling circus spectacle.
- The Seal-Skin Obsession: Why Seattle Ladies Wear More Fur Than Any Other City
A local furrier reveals that the city's obsession with expensive sealskin sacks is driven by climate, fashion, and a secret supply chain from London.
- City Hall's Petty Wars and the Cost of Patronage
Seattle's water and fire departments are being crippled by the 'reform' administration's obsession with political spoils and patronage over efficiency.
- The Real Estate Boom of 1890
A booster’s pitch for West Seattle highlights the city's turn-of-the-century obsession with land development and panoramic vistas.