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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 15 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 21 |
| 1893 | 21 |
| 1894 | 34 |
| 1895 | 56 |
153 stories matching proof
- The 1891 Building Laws That Shaped Seattle
A deep dive into the rigid safety mandates—from fire-proof walls to mandatory fire escapes—that dictated the construction of Seattle’s early downtown.
- The Great Seattle Rebuild: Rethinking Fire Safety After the Ashes
In the wake of the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, experts and local leaders scramble to replace wooden tinderboxes with new, fireproof standards and modern building codes.
- Engineering Tacoma's Waterfront
Tacoma will build a $20,000 bridge to its new filled waterfront, where teredo worms eat untreated pilings.
- The Mystery of the Vanished Donation Claim
Thurston County officials try to purchase a poor farm, only to discover the original land claim may never have been finalized.
- A Saloon Brawl on South Third: No Knives, No Proof
A cutting scrape at the Golden State hotel leaves authorities puzzled: was it a knife or just a fight? The charge is reduced to simple assault.
- A Tailor's Desperate Act of Poverty
After faking his own death to spare his family the hardship of life in Seattle, a struggling tailor makes a series of harrowing, failed attempts to end his life.
- Minors Gain Right to Own Land in Port Angeles
Federal ruling confirms that young people can hold title to government land, ending a ten-week legal standoff.
- The Great Seattle Fire of 1889: Surviving the Flames
While the city turned to ash, local business owners turned to their safes to see what remained of their livelihood.
- The Great Buckley Fire Wipes Out East Main Street
A lumber town’s business district is reduced to ash after a mill fire jumps the tracks and consumes an entire city block.
- New Federal Law Targets Chinese Residents
A harsh new congressional act forces Chinese laborers to prove their identity and secure certificates of residency or face deportation and hard labor.
- The Editor, the Chief, and the Libel He Could Not Prove
Seattle’s police chief wins a criminal libel case after the Telegraph’s promised corruption evidence never materializes.
- Wood & Osborne Bring Order to Washington Territory Deeds
As Seattle's property market surged, the city's premier title firm was forced to expand its operations to keep up with the frantic pace of land speculation.
- The Price of Rebuilding Seattle After the Great Fire
As the city rises from the ashes of the 1889 Great Fire, editors urge property owners to resist the temptation of 'fire traps' and prioritize permanent, safe construction over quick profits.
- The Boom That Refuses To Bust
While critics predicted the collapse of the Washington boom, the territory points to its literal bedrock—coal, iron, timber, and grain—as proof of its enduring prosperity.
- A Working Mother Answers the Charity That Called Her Unfit
After a jury refused to brand Mrs. Bennett a prostitute, her lawyer wrote to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to rebut the Associated Charities superintendent who had accused her in front of her children.
- Rising from the Ashes
How Snohomish views the devastating Great Seattle Fire and its own precarious growth.
- The Shanty That Refused to Die
A year after the grand Yeager Building rose on Front Street, a flimsy wooden shack still blocks the sidewalk—proof that Seattle’s building codes are mere suggestions.
- The Disappearing Witness in the Minkler Murder Trial
The Lewis County Sheriff orders the release of a key witness against Dr. Minkler, raising local alarms about justice.
- The Poison-Peddling Pharmacist
The head of the state board of pharmacy is caught stealing and adulterating strychnine intended for local farmers.
- The Hundred-Thousand-Dollar Ballard Land Grab
A decades-long legal battle over a prime section of Ballard real estate winds its way toward the U.S. Supreme Court.
- Seattle Bets Half a Million Dollars on a Canal
With $50,000 left to raise, the subscription to build the ship canal becomes the town's favorite proof that Seattle is a city of doers.
- Rising from the Ashes: The Great Seattle Fire of 1888
While the downtown core smoldered, Seattle citizens gathered in the courthouse—lit by tallow dips—to demand a modern city of brick and stone, rejecting makeshift wooden shacks and dreaming of a reconstructed metropolis.
- A Ruling on the Geary Act
Commissioner Emery issues a new interpretation of Chinese Exclusion, ordering deportation based on the failure to register under the Geary Act.
- The Discovery of the Missing Girl in Whidbey
A grisly discovery in the woods near the railway tracks in Whidbey leads to a desperate search for answers.
- Six Years Away Was Enough to Cost a Man His Claim to America
A Seattle Chinese merchant's brother is ordered deported after a commissioner rules that a long absence in China is proof he never really lived here.