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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 4 |
14 stories matching par
- The City’s ‘Rubber’ Checks Are Finally Good as Gold
After years of city employees losing money to brokers by discounting city warrants, the Mayor forces a policy of redemption at par value.
- The Hop Growers' Scrip Solution
Local banks and merchants collaborate to issue IOUs as cash to help farmers survive the harvest season.
- The Fire That Paid: How a Grocery Store’s Loss Became a Lesson in Civic Trust
When a fire destroyed the premises of Mossfeldt & Pratt on Jackson Street, their insurance company didn't just pay up—they published a public thank-you note. A rare moment of transparency in 1889 Seattle.
- The Bank-Issued Currency of 1893
Facing a national economic panic, Seattle merchants and bankers agree to honor certified checks as local tender to keep the hop harvest moving.
- City Laborers Find Relief at the Bank
Mayor Phelps intervenes to stop the exploitation of city laborers by 'scrip buyers' who were charging fees to cash municipal pay checks.
- The City Hall Bond Crisis of 1893
Facing a financial panic, Seattle's mayor proposes an experimental fix to keep public works moving and labor employed.
- The City’s New Bonding Power
New legislation grants Seattle the authority to issue local improvement bonds, shifting the financial burden of street and sewer projects directly onto benefited property owners.
- The Streetcar That Ate the Profits: Third Street Line May Shut Down
A federal receiver gets permission to issue $15,000 in certificates, but the order bars any more money from being sunk into Seattle's losing Third Street railway.
- Seattle's School Board Votes $400,000 in Bonds—and Pockets the Audit Demand
The board funds a debt, hears charges that thousands were mismanaged, then lets an audit resolution die for lack of a second.
- Seattle's Teachers Refused to Take 85 Cents on the Dollar
Paid in warrants the district could not back, 140 educators asked voters to bond the school debt so their salaries would be worth face value.
- The Day Seattle Stood Still: A Century of Celebration on the Frontier
On July 4, 1897, Governor John H. Temple welcomed thousands of visitors to a parade so massive it stretched half a mile long, featuring floats from local industries and veterans of the Spanish-American War.
- A Bank President Accused of Looting His Own Vault
Deputy Internal Revenue Collector James P. Gleason says he bought $10,000 in Commercial National Bank stock on promises that turned out to be worthless—and that H. W. Wheeler used a mortgage company to hide the assets.
- The Cable Company Wanted More Time. Yesler Avenue Wanted Its Double Track.
In 1895, Seattle’s aldermen weighed whether to give a struggling street railway more time to double-track Yesler Avenue—or force it to honor the franchise the neighborhood had bought into.
- The First Lacrosse Game Ever Played in Seattle
Five hundred spectators packed Madison Street Park as picked teams from Victoria introduced the city to lacrosse — and a stocky second-home nicknamed 'Billy' ran away with the show.