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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 10 |
| 1894 | 8 |
| 1895 | 7 |
36 stories matching statist
- The World's Fair Statistical Fiasco
King County scrambled to prove its economic worth to the Chicago World’s Fair commission, while local officials grumbled about the impossibility of gathering honest numbers from suspicious business owners.
- Washington’s Hidden Bounty: The Oat Capital of 1889
Newly released federal statistics highlight the massive agricultural potential of Washington Territory, crowning it as the nation's premier producer of oats.
- Labor Unions and Lawmakers Craft Policy
Local labor leaders and the King County delegation meet to push for a progressive agenda, including a bureau of labor statistics and public printing.
- The Bureaucratic Fight Over Death and Birth
A standoff between Washington state health officials and local physicians over whether doctors should be required to report vital statistics without pay.
- The Battle Over the Ballot Box in Seattle's First Ward
As local politicians traded barbs over an uptick in voter registration, the 'Post-Intelligencer' dismisses claims of fraud, pointing to the city’s rapid post-fire growth as the true cause of the numbers.
- The Toll of the Pest House
Health Officer Limerick tallies the human cost of the smallpox epidemic in Snohomish.
- Policing the City's Morals
A look inside the 1893 police report shows a city grappling with 'disorderly conduct,' 'vagrancy,' and a scandal involving an officer accused of vote-buying.
- The Unmeasured Wealth of Washington's Timber
A comprehensive statistical report from 1893 reveals the staggering scale of timber resources across the state and the birth of a major industry.
- The State’s Missing Death Records
A scathing report reveals that county officials across Washington are failing to report thousands of deaths, leaving the state’s vital records in a state of 'gross negligence.'
- Seattle's Labor Movement Sets Sights on Olympia
Local trade unions form a legislative committee to fight for an eight-hour day, employer liability, and anti-Pinkerton laws.
- Rescuing the City's 'Children of Larger Growth'
Superintendent E.T. Dooley proposes a Children's Aid Society to stop Seattle from churning out a criminal class.
- The City Lays the Foundation for its Future
On the Fourth of July, 1894, Seattle gathered between Lake Union and Lake Washington to lay the cornerstone of the University of Washington's new main building.
- Seattle Moves to Create a Municipal Employment Office
City council members propose a public bureau to connect laborers with jobs, citing a desire to improve employment conditions.
- The Growing Divide: A 1889 Look at Wealth Inequality
A century before modern debates on income disparity, a Seattle newspaper reflected on a New York attorney's grim statistics concerning the extreme concentration of American wealth.
- Sunday Statistics: The War for the Soul of Seattle's Youth
Rev. Wallace Nutting takes a census of the city’s saloons and churches to prove the moral decay of young men in the West.
- A New Guard at City Hall: Seattle's 1894 Transition
Mayor Byron Phelps assumes office during a severe economic depression, pledging economy, non-partisan reform, and a professionalized city government.
- The Grim Calculus of Tragedy
An 1888 editorial attempts to rank the world's most catastrophic events, reflecting the era's fixation on measuring the scale of human loss.
- The Industrial War Between Seattle and Tacoma
Fresh census data is weaponized in a heated civic rivalry over wages, manufacturing growth, and economic dominance.
- A Remarkably Low Death Rate—and Nowhere to Put the Fever Cases
Seattle's health officer reports 467 deaths in 1894, credits sewers for cutting typhoid, and asks for a small hospital for diphtheria and scarlet fever.
- A Railroad Dream to Steal Tacoma's Trade
An electric road from Sidney to Vaughn, stitched together with volunteer labor and boat connections, promised to pull the upper Sound's commerce away from Tacoma and into Seattle.
- The Boom That Built Seattle: A City on the Verge of Explosion
As the new year dawns, Seattle’s leaders are boasting of unprecedented growth—new schools, hotels, and blocks rising from the mud, fueled by lumber wealth and a population that refuses to stay small.
- The Typo That Made Seattle the Most Taxed City in America
A comptroller's misplaced decimal turned a $1.36 tax rate into $12.60 in the World Almanac. By the time the Chamber of Commerce ran it down, Congress was quoting it — and Tacoma was begging the newspapers to stop trashing both cities.
- The Political War Over the McKinley Tariff
Conflicting data and fiery rhetoric define the campaign debate over whether protectionist tariffs are protecting or impoverishing the American worker.
- The Last-Day Bill Rush—and a Women’s Suffrage Amendment
Washington’s Senate introduced dozens of measures on the final day of bill introduction, from railroad assessments and a company-store ban to a referendum on votes for women.
- Don't Tear Down the Mineral Palace
A Seattle booster exhibit built to dazzle Great Northern investors sits empty after the Panic of 1893 — and a reader begs the city not to wreck the one thing that proves Puget Sound is worth their money.