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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 4 |
| 1895 | 16 |
31 stories matching sempl
- The Strange Mystery of Eugene Semple's 'Sack'
As the senatorial deadlock in Olympia stretches on, an ex-governor arrives with rumors of a $1,000 slush fund to buy his way into office.
- The Grand Plan to Reshape Seattle
A St. Louis investment group arrives to back Eugene Semple’s ambitious vision of a ship canal and the filling of the tide flats.
- The Ill-Fated Divorce of Whatcom County
A couple of thirty years' standing attempted a DIY divorce through a notary, only to find themselves inadvertently back in the bonds of matrimony when the law intervened.
- A Claim to the Shingle Throne
A Ballard man challenges the history books, asserting he invented the sawed shingle in King County in 1874.
- Who Gets to Build Tacoma's Harbor?
Ex-Governor Semple said the money was secured, but a state land commission hearing and waterfront lawsuits showed rival plans and private claims still controlled the tideflats.
- The Great Canal Scheme Blocked
A judge strikes down a law that would have allowed private contractors to dig the Lake Washington canal and seize tide lands for profit.
- St. Louis Money Comes to Dig Seattle's South Canal
A telegram to Eugene Semple announced that the Ames brothers and their St. Louis backers were on their way to take charge of the South Canal, as engineers surveyed the tide flats and a dredger headed west.
- The Canal Fund Was Almost Full—and St. Louis Was Waiting
Seattle waterway boosters needed $50,000 to start contract No. 3. With a deadline looming, Eugene Semple promised the money in three or four days.
- The Dredge That Would Carve Seattle's Ship Canal
In 1895, Eugene Semple's Seattle & Lake Washington Waterway Company signed the largest dredging contract ever awarded in America — 35 million cubic yards of tide-flat muck, at 18 cents a yard, to cut a canal from Puget Sound to Lake Washington.
- Seattle's Independence Day Invasion
Thousands of visitors flood Seattle for the Fourth of July, causing a housing shortage as the city prepares for a massive parade and naval spectacle.
- The Human Deck of Cards at the Armory
Seattle socialites transform themselves into a 'living deck' to perform a complex, choreographed game of whist for charity.
- The Battle for the Seattle Streets
A fierce legal and corporate rivalry over cable car franchises threatens to tear up Seattle's downtown, while a mysterious entrepreneur promises to modernize the city with electric power.
- The City Holds Its Breath for Cleveland
Seattle crowds swarm the Post-Intelligencer bulletin board to witness the 1892 Democratic nomination, turning a distant Chicago event into a local spectacle.
- Inside the Eastern Washington Hospital for the Insane
A biennial report highlights the Medical Lake institution's agricultural successes and its surprisingly high recovery rates.
- Seattle's Grand Independence Day Jubilee
A massive display of civic pride, featuring a grand parade of labor unions, military companies, and elaborate trade floats, marks the most ambitious celebration in the city’s history.
- The Conman of the Grand Pacific
A hotelier’s prank turns into a headline as a fake British investor tricks a local reporter.
- Auburn Bets on a Canal to the Sea
Townsfolk rally for the ship-canal subsidy, and one speaker vows to watch a warship sail through the new channel with colors flying.
- A Million Dollars Secured for the Lake Washington Canal
David E. Durie returns from the East with financing for the tide flats waterway and ship canal, contingent on right-of-way and lock guarantees.
- The $5.5 Million Bet That Would Reshape Seattle's Waterfront
St. Louis investors sign on to fill the tide flats and dig a canal linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound, betting Seattle will become the Pacific coast's leading city.
- St. Louis Money Was Ready—If Seattle Guaranteed the Canal
In 1895, a citizens' committee moved to raise a public subsidy for locks, bridges and right-of-way so a $7 million tide-flat and canal scheme could begin.
- The $3 Million Scheme to Turn Seattle's Tide Flats into Dry Land
A private company plans to dredge the Duwamish and fill Elliott Bay's mudflats — paid not in cash but in land and liens — while St. Louis money waits to see the ground before it bets.
- The Canal That Would Reshape Seattle
A federal engineer brings word that St. Louis money is in place for a Lake Washington ship canal, with locks, dredges, and jobs promised within four years.
- The Ship Canal Pitch: Seattle Courts St. Louis Money
A dozen St. Louis investors toured the proposed ship canal, hinting at outside capital for the city's biggest infrastructure dream.
- The Dirt Will Fly: Seattle's Tide Flats Get a Date With the Dredge
A company backed by Eastern money says filling the Duwamish tide flats and excavating the waterway will begin within six weeks—if the canal right-of-way can be secured.
- The Republican Party Fights Over Who Gets Counted
Seattle Republicans revolted against a county apportionment that gave rural precincts outsized delegate power, organizing a new club and threatening an indignation meeting.