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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 10 |
| 1893 | 11 |
| 1894 | 12 |
| 1895 | 17 |
57 stories matching overflow
- A Fireman Died in a Flood-Swollen Culvert. Now His Widow Wants the Railroad to Pay.
E. G. Cole left a widow and three daughters, including six-month-old twins. His estate is suing the Oregon Improvement Company for $12,480, alleging the company ran a train through a flooded, defective roadbed.
- The 1895 Plan to Straighten the Sammamish River
A petition from H. K. Kelsey and forty others asked King County to drain, deepen and straighten Squak Slough, reclaiming 3,000 acres of overflowed land.
- Engineering a Solution for Hagerty Creek
The City of Snohomish seeks to tame a flooding creek by tunneling through a hill at the foot of Union Avenue.
- The Anti-Catholic Crusade That Filled a Seattle Hall
In 1895, an overflow crowd packed a Masonic hall on Pike Street to hear the American Protective Association promise a nativist 'second grand army' against the Catholic Church.
- Proposed Tunnel to Save Kent Valley Farms
A Seattle engineer proposes a tunnel project to drain the White River valley to protect agricultural lands from seasonal flooding.
- Western Washington’s Spring Floods
Heavy rains and rising rivers in the Skagit, Fraser, and Columbia valleys damage crops and farmland.
- The Speaker of Norway’s Storthing Visits Seattle
Viggo Ullmann, a leader of the Norwegian Liberal Party, brings his campaign for national independence to a packed hall in Seattle.
- Political Infighting Rocks the People's Party
Seattle activists revolt against 'fusion' strategy and the perceived buying of political influence through newspaper subsidies.
- The Theatre’s Grandest Night
Henry Irving and Ellen Terry bring Shakespeare to an overflowing Seattle audience.
- The Great Stuck River Jam: A Battle Over Water and Land
In a tense standoff on the White River, Pierce County cattlemen illegally dammed the waterway to protect their pastures, forcing King County officials to ride out with Winchester rifles to avert a violent conflict.
- The Cold Snap That Stopped the Floods—and the Tide That Didn’t
A January thaw sent slides and high water across Western Washington, washing out bridges, stalling Great Northern trains, and pushing Salmon Bay into Seattle homes.
- Farmers Petition to Reshape the Duwamish Basin
Facing constant flooding and ruin, regional farmers unite to demand a massive engineering project to redirect the Cedar River and deepen the waterways of Seattle.
- The City Mourns a Beloved Teacher
A crowded Plymouth Congregational Church honors Amanda Hildebrandt, a teacher remembered for her selfless life.
- A Sea of Supporters Packs the Armory for the Canal
Thousands of Seattleites overflow the First Regiment Armory to rally for the proposed ship canal, signaling a major push for federal infrastructure.
- Flood Waters Ravage Duwamish Valley Farms
Farmers report $25,000 in damages and plan to petition county commissioners over neglected drainage locks.
- The Great Drain Struggle
Farmers from the Duwamish and Sammamish valleys rally to demand an expanded canal to solve recurring, devastating floods.
- A Salacious Scandal in Spokane
A local doctor sues a brewer and a theater owner for 'alienating' his wife's affections, leading to a series of prying legal interrogatories.
- The Political War of the Sound: Tacoma versus Seattle
As gubernatorial candidate John H. McGraw barnstorms the state, Tacoma’s political elite launch a bitter, personal smear campaign against him, citing his connection to Seattle's growth.
- The Calkins Hotel Despoiled
A real estate trust claims tenants of an East Seattle hotel are gutting the building and flooding its rooms in a scorched-earth dispute over a lease.
- The Great Northwest Flood of 1894
Historic deluges across the Columbia, Fraser, and Skagit river valleys have paralyzed rail travel and left thousands displaced from their homes.
- Farmer Sues Over Property Washed Away by White River
Nels Hansen claims the town of Auburn's poor construction of a new river channel caused the total loss of his home and barn.
- A Judge Halts the Sale of the Elliott Bay Tide Flats
Three days of testimony convince Judge Langley that the marsh the state wanted to sell as 'tide land' had been prairie and pasture — and the owners of the Brawley, Kinnear and Ladd tracts win an injunction that suddenly reaches every reclaimed river mouth on Puget Sound.
- The Port Townsend Democratic Uprising
A raucous meeting of the Young Men's Democratic Club in Port Townsend erupts in chaos as members pass scathing resolutions condemning Collector of Customs James C. Saunders for cronyism and alleged corruption.
- The Railway King vs. The 'Bow in the Ram's Horn'
James J. Hill, the legendary railroad titan, packs the Seattle City Council chambers to demand a straight track through the city's waterfront, warning that 'bottlenecking' the rails would cost the city its future.
- The Looming Crisis at the State Penitentiary
Washington's state prison faces overcrowding and inadequate facilities as the inmate population outpaces projections, forcing guards to rent rooms in town.