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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 7 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1904 | 2 |
43 stories matching Clay City
- Prehistoric Forest Unearthed Beneath Seattle Streets
Construction on the south sewer tunnel reveals evidence of a buried forest floor deep beneath the city's surface.
- The Miracle Hen of the Barn
A farmer reports an astonishing, if scientifically questionable, account of a hen surviving over a month without food or water.
- The Caucus Chaos
A local political meeting descends into a shouting match, resulting in two competing tickets for city council.
- Little Falls Fire Clay Plant Reopens with Tacoma Sewer Contract
After months of silence due to the economic 'dull times,' the Washington Fire Clay Company resumes operations to fulfill a massive city infrastructure order.
- Seattle's Broken Sewers Were Shoveled to Pieces, Engineer Says
City Engineer Thomson rejects the explosion theory and blames wet clay clods and soft-burned pipe for fractures under Kenny Street.
- The Sewers Were Cracking — And Seattle Wanted to Know Why
City engineers trace a rash of shattered pipes to Ballard and Olympia, and to the manufacturers who made them.
- The Tragic Cost of Playing in the Seattle Clay
A makeshift fort at the edge of the city became a tomb when a riverbank collapsed, claiming the life of a young boy.
- The Road to Nowhere: How Seattle’s Leaders Left Lake Washington Residents Stranded in Mud
In March 1877, residents living between the city and Lake Washington found their commute impossible. The city council ignored petitions for a proper road, offering only fir boughs and gravel dust as solutions.
- The Unlucky Stable in the Middle of the Street
A railroad land agent inadvertently builds a brand-new, modern stable smack in the middle of a planned Tacoma thoroughfare.
- The Industrial Boom of Van Asselt's Sewer Pipe
A newly discovered deposit of clay near the Green River births a factory, employing eighty men and shaping the city’s infrastructure.
- Seattle’s Streets Were Still Mostly Wood—Until the Brick Came
With 750 miles platted and only 106 improved, city engineers pushed permanent pavement on Union Street and dreamed of brick from local clay.
- Seattle's Sewers Were Cracking All Over Town — and the City Engineer Blamed the Dirt
A furious letter writer insists the pipes broke not from 'percussion' but from the very worst kind of trench work — and points the finger straight at the man in charge.
- A Sober Assessment of the Seattle Boom
A local businessman warns Easterners against the 'real estate sharks' and urges caution for those moving West.
- The Courthouse Mud Trap
A dangerous quagmire on Third Street leaves citizens stuck in the clay on their way to justice.
- The Sewer Plan That Imagined a City of 200,000
Engineer J. S. Camp presented Olympia’s council with a tide-powered reservoir and automatic flush tanks, a system meant to grow with the capital city.
- The Clay Under Seattle Built a Million-Dollar Industry
King County clay works turned local deposits into firebrick, paving brick, sewer pipe and architectural terra cotta—winning federal tests and employing hundreds of men.
- The Muddy Road to Greatness
As Seattle rapidly expanded in 1877, its editors lamented that the city’s commercial ambitions were literally stuck in the mud, demanding urgent infrastructure for a growing population.
- Seattle Celebrates the Great Northern Arrival
Thousands flock to Pioneer Place for the opening of the Mineral Palace, marking the completion of the railway and the Fourth of July.
- The Waterworks War: Engineering the Future of West Seattle
While the rest of the city struggled with water, West Seattle turned to subterranean springs to build a booming suburban dream.
- The Great Migration to the 'Power of Central Washington'
An 1889 promotional poem and report lured families from the 'crowded cities' of the East and Midwest to the promised land of the Wenatchee River valley.
- The Buried Forest Beneath Denny Hill
Excavations for a new industrial facility in Seattle reveal a startling subterranean history: an ancient, preserved forest resting 22 feet beneath the city's surface.
- The Great Seattle Oyster War
When Colonel Jim Steel discovered a legal loophole to seize Seattle’s tide flats for private oyster farming, he triggered a chaotic race against a major land company.
- Engineering a Solution for the Fourteenth Street Slide
City Engineer Thomson outlines an expensive plan to halt the recurring, dangerous earth movements in the Beacon Hill district.
- The Sliding Main Street Hillside
A recently completed street project on Main Street is already being reclaimed by the earth as the steep, clay-rich hillside slides into town.
- The Battle for the Paving of Pacific Avenue
Tacoma business owners hash out a heated, two-hour debate over whether to use locally sourced fir blocks or imported vitrified brick for the city's main street.