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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 13 |
| 1889 | 32 |
| 1891 | 18 |
| 1892 | 80 |
| 1893 | 94 |
| 1894 | 90 |
| 1895 | 132 |
459 stories matching step
- A Fatal Misstep on the Tracks
A tailor is struck and killed by an electric streetcar after stepping directly into its path near Lake Union.
- A Street Fight Over a Package of Meat
A man attempted to steal a package of meat off the steps of the Golden Gate building, only to face a vigorous drubbing from his victim.
- A Public Separation on the Courthouse Steps
A Tacoma couple’s attempt to end their marriage in Seattle ends in a public spectacle of incompatibility.
- Puyallup Tribe Begins Commercial Hop Farming
In a historic shift, local indigenous farmers take the first step toward independent hop production.
- The Mud of the Tideflats
An impoverished aristocrat, clinging to the fading pride of her family name, is saved from a lonely death in Seattle's treacherous marshlands by a man she once scorned.
- The Search for a Missing Boy
An investigation into a missing child leads to rumors of a boy living among Indigenous people near Kupper Inlet.
- A Gun Goes Off in a Passing Hand and a Fox Island Rancher Dies
Handing her husband his gun as he stepped into a boat, a Fox Island woman accidentally discharges it at point-blank range, killing him in front of her.
- City Council Faces Power Struggle over Board of Public Works
As two members are removed and vacancies persist, the Council weighs an unprecedented move to seize control of city infrastructure projects.
- A Plunge into the Mud at Carkeek's Brick Yard
A passenger on an electric railway takes a dark, unintended shortcut off the tracks and into the waters of the bay.
- The Vanished Prize
A glass jar filled with cash, intended for a public guessing contest at a downtown shop, was plucked from a storefront window in a clever, late-night heist.
- Political Rebellion in the State Legislature
Senator Hutchinson breaks with the Democratic caucus in Olympia to challenge railroad-backed influence in Washington politics.
- The Unpaid Ballplayer: Seattle's 1891 Baseball Scandal
When the Spokane Falls baseball team failed to pay their players, the National Board of Control stepped in to change the rules of the game—and the era of player agency was born.
- A Grooming Tragedy at Alki Point
A hunting trip near West Seattle ends in a gruesome accident when a man’s shotgun discharges while stepping over a log.
- The Street That Couldn't Be Finished
Property owners on Deeatnr Street face losing their homes to the city treasurer over an unfinished grading project that the city legally cannot complete.
- A Railroad, a Tide-Land Tract, and an Elevator Go on the Auction Block
A bond debt forced the sheriff to sell the Terminal Railway Elevator Company's tracks, tide land, West Seattle elevator and warehouse, and franchise at the courthouse steps.
- Gambler Who Preyed on Newsboys Driven Out of Town
After cheating a bootblack and a newsboy on the steps of a local hotel, a 'crooked' gambler is fined and given an informal eviction notice by Seattle police.
- The Farmer Who Thanked the Jury for Sending Him to Prison
After shooting a man on the Spokane courthouse steps, an eccentric Whitman County farmer rejected an insanity defense and told the jury he would rather be in hell than an asylum.
- Mutiny Averted Aboard the Cutter Grant
A new recruit refuses to drill, but the crew’s rapid display of loyalty convinces their captain of their patriotism.
- The Railway Monopoly’s Grip Loosens
A local rail executive challenges a restrictive traffic contract, opening competitive freight rates for the region.
- The Peril of the Open Sewer
A pedestrian’s fall into an unlit excavation leads to a three-way courtroom battle between the injured man, the city, and a railway company.
- Seattle's First Real Street Paving
A specimen half-block is laid on Commercial Street as a test to end the era of plank roads and mud.
- The Price of a 'Pull' in Seattle's Police Force
Seven officers were fired to make room for the mayor's favorites, sparking outrage over political patronage.
- The Firebug's Last Exit: A Tacoma Lodging-House Owner Hangs Himself
After firemen foiled his attempt to burn his own lodging house for insurance, Carl Haesbseche walked out before breakfast, rigged a twine noose, and stepped off a platform.
- The Elopement That Gripped Whatcom
When a thirteen-year-old girl ran away with a suitor, the resulting pursuit and public scandal exposed the harsh limits of autonomy and safety for youth in the 1890s.
- A Death-Trap Elevator in the Ball Block
An 18-year-old stenographer is critically injured after stepping into an open elevator shaft in downtown Tacoma, highlighting a pattern of mechanical neglect.