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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 10 |
35 stories matching thrive
- Fatal Accident in Wilbur Well
A farmer is killed after falling eighty feet while cleaning a well.
- Gamblers Threaten a Crusading Preacher
A Tacoma clergyman and the local newspaper face death threats after exposing a thriving municipal gambling underground.
- The Curious Catch at Meighan's Wharf
A local fisherman pulls an unlikely stowaway from the depths of Elliott Bay.
- Ilwaco Cannerymen Fight the Introduction of Catfish
Local industry experts warn that catfish will destroy the salmon population in Washington waters.
- Fire at Tchewasan: A Point Roberts Indigenous Village Loses Homes and Orchards
Five houses and 27 tents burned near Point Roberts, prompting an Indian agent to bring bedding and food to a hard-working community.
- The Rapid Rise of Palatine
A new industrial settlement along the canal route emerges as a hub of quick development.
- The Great Fire of 1889: Resilience in the Ashes
A traveler recounts their journey across the continent to find a city 'wiped out' but miraculously still standing, thriving in tents and determined to rebuild.
- Fraternal Orders Thrive Despite Economic Gloom
While the Panic of 1893 batters the economy, Seattle's secret societies are recording explosive membership growth.
- The Promised Land That Wasn't: A Settler's Warning from Assiniboia
An immigrant recently arrived in Spokane describes how colonization companies lured families to the Canadian Northwest with loans and free transportation, only to leave them in debt and misery.
- The War Over the Puget Sound Dry Dock
Senators from Washington and Oregon clash in Congress over the location of a new naval dry dock, revealing a fierce regional rivalry between the Sound and the Columbia River.
- The Cedar Boom Transforms Edmonds
A surge in timber production is turning the small town into a bustling manufacturing hub, quickly exhausting the local supply of vacant housing.
- The Sudden Death of a Beloved Seattle Physician
Dr. E. L. Smith, a pillar of the Seattle medical community and veteran of the National Guard, dies unexpectedly in his sleep at the Butler Hotel.
- The Iron Horse Reaches Snohomish
After years of reliance on slow steamboats, the town of Snohomish gains a permanent link to the outside world via the Seattle, Lake Shore & Eastern Railway.
- The Passing of a Seattle Pioneer
Samuel Kenney, a merchant tailor who helped shape the city's early commercial landscape, dies at his home on Houghton Street.
- The Shadowy Trade of the Sound
A Canadian steamer allegedly lands contraband laborers and opium near Olympia, revealing a thriving underground network of smuggling that has turned the city into a Puget Sound rendezvous.
- The Collapse of a Real Estate Empire
After years of boom-time speculation, a prominent firm collapses under the weight of unpaid mortgages and political fallout.
- The Town of Oakesdale Is Reduced to Smoldering Ruins
A three-story hotel blaze consumes the city's business district in just two hours, leaving merchants devastated and the community reeling.
- The Phoenix of the Pacific Northwest
Following the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, citizens and local editors debate the path forward, viewing the total destruction of the business district as a necessary—if painful—opportunity for modern urban planning.
- The Iron Will of the Port Blakeley Mill
How a massive steam-powered sawmill on Bainbridge Island became the beating heart of Seattle's early timber economy.
- The Leap Year Proposal That Stole the Show
In 1896, a group of young women in Seattle’s mill district turned tradition on its head, organizing and managing their own social event to celebrate the rare calendar day.
- The Dream of a Factory City on Lake Union
Promotional copy for the Denny Hoyt Townsite, promising a booming industrial future for Seattle's lakeside property in 1888.
- Seattle Planned to Grow Three Square Miles Out of the Tide Flats
A Hartford paper marveled at a city that had burned down six years earlier and was now preparing to fill the harbor, cut two 1,000-foot waterways to the Duwamish, and wall off the waterfront.
- The Boomtown Fever: Seattle and Tacoma in 1888
A visiting statesman details the rapid, frantic rise of two Puget Sound rivals, noting the soaring land values and the arrival of Eastern capital as workers flock to the territory.
- The Opium Ring That Terrified the Sound
A dark-complexioned gentleman with a sloop and a mission is dismantling smuggling rings in Puget Sound, proving that federal authority was reaching even the remote corners of Washington Territory.
- The English Sparrow Has Invaded Seattle — and the Songbirds Are Next
An 1895 editorial warns that the imported sparrow, already a pest in Eastern cities, has reached Puget Sound and will drive out native birds.