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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 11 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 19 |
| 1893 | 29 |
| 1894 | 17 |
| 1895 | 16 |
| 1899 | 6 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 6 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 6 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 5 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
158 stories matching basement
- The Elevator Man Who Fell Through the Transom
Joseph Albright had run the elevator in the Seattle National Bank building for barely a month when a half-second's slip crushed him between cage and door — and sent his body through the glass over the ground-floor entrance.
- A 3 A.M. Saloon Fire Puts a Whole Block in Peril
Smoke seeping from the basement of A. L. Ries's Eagle saloon roused the Dunlap Hotel and threatened an entire frame row on Washington Avenue — and renewed Newport's long push for a real fire company.
- Tacoma's Labor Boycott: Business Men Forced to Meet in a Basement as Tensions Escalate
A planned meeting of business men to address the Trades Council's boycott of the Ledger newspaper is postponed after the Commercial Club refuses its rooms. Undeterred, a group meets in a basement, but the Trades Council dismisses it as meaningless. The city remains on edge as labor and business collide.
- The Great Sidewalk Standoff of 1892
A Seattle clothier brandished a revolver and a trowel in a public skirmish over basement access, highlighting the messy street-level power struggles of early downtown Seattle.
- A Rope of Rags, a Jar of Coal Oil, and a Tacoma Arson Plot
Fire Chief Bruemmer found a carefully laid fuse running through a mortgaged tenement—just before the owner left town for Neah Bay.
- Suspicious Boarding House Fire Under Investigation
A fire discovered in a Seventh Street boarding house basement, complete with kerosene-soaked bedding and abandoned documents, suggests a deliberate attempt at arson.
- The $40 Prize Burglary That Came Up Through the Floor
Someone broke into the basement of the Famous Clothing Co., bored a clean hole through the floor beneath a display window and pulled out the cash box without disturbing the storefront.
- Seattle Picks Up the Hammer: A Kindergarten, a Church and a Dozen New Homes
With confidence returning after the hard times, builders break ground on the Bailey Gatzert free kindergarten at Twelfth and Norman, finish a German church at Tenth and Stewart, and raise modern homes from Queen Anne to the south side.
- A Vassar of the West: Pullman Builds a Home for College Women
In 1895, Washington Agricultural College regents approved a granite-and-brick women’s dormitory with parlors, a recreation hall and suites modeled on Eastern colleges.
- Firefighters battle stubborn blaze in North Seattle block
A basement fire under a millinery shop creates a late-night hazard for North Seattle responders.
- A Dying Declaration on South Second Street
A Chinese resident is fatally stabbed near the Standard Theater, and his accusation sends a railroad laborer to the county jail.
- A Glue Pot, a Pail of Water, and the Fire That Took Seattle
A painter, a cabinetmaker and a frightened workman recount how a glue pot and a bucket of water ignited the blaze that consumed Seattle.
- The 'Dead Line' at the San Francisco Store
Before it became a retail hub, the basement of the San Francisco store in Seattle served as a federal jail where prisoners waited for trial while playing cards and bartering for tobacco.
- The State’s Office is a ‘Sailor’s Boarding House’: Olympia’s Desperate Search for a Capitol
With state officers scattered across the city in “miserably-ventilated” rooms and valuable records stored in sheds, Representative Collins introduces a bill to erect a temporary building on business property.
- The Raid on Occidental Avenue
Seattle police stage a dramatic basement breach to dismantle a gambling operation.
- General Booth Brings the Salvation Army’s Hallelujah Show to Seattle
A visiting evangelist fills the Armory, keeps a basement congregation on its knees, and explains why the Army is not a church.
- Hot Ashes Nearly Burn Down Olympia’s Pride
A carelessly discarded batch of hot ashes smoldered for hours in the Capitol Steam Laundry before bursting into flame beneath the Olympia Hotel.
- Tragedy in the Basement on Washington Street
A cook and cannery worker, struggling with isolation and mental illness, was found dead in a basement apartment.
- A Pioneer's Desperate End
After business reverses and personal tragedy, a pioneer hardware merchant dies by suicide in his North Seattle store.
- The Schoolyard War Over Scarlet Fever
Seattle's health board tried to close two schools. Principals resisted, police made arrests, and pupils turned a fire hose on the law.
- Arson Attempt Targets Chinese Business District
A deliberate fire set in the basement of Wah Chong's store nearly triggers a catastrophe for the city's business sector.
- Dam Break Triggers Flash Flood in Snohomish
A failed dam at Blackman's Lake sent a torrent of water into the heart of town, caving in streets and flooding basements.
- Growing Pains in the Queen City: Seattle’s 1889 School Crisis
As the population exploded, the city’s schools were so overwhelmed that children were squeezed into attics, basements, and makeshift classrooms—a familiar struggle for a booming town.
- The Tragedy of the Elliott Block Fire
A coroner's jury investigates the death of two brothers in a nighttime fire, leaving their family displaced and the local community rushing to provide aid.
- The Great Escape: Two Prisoners Vanish from Seattle’s Basement Jail
In a display of audacity and desperation, two men held on smuggling and liquor charges crawled through a torn-off board in a water closet to flee the U.S. Marshal’s improvised prison beneath the Clancy Building.
Also about this, in other words
- Blasting Beneath 14th and A
Contractor C.D. Elmore is drilling into cement gravel to carve out a new foundation for a downtown landmark.
- The Berlin Building Burglary
A basement billiard room is hit for a few cigars and a handful of change after a thief hurls a rock through the front door.
- Expansion of the Red Light District
A notorious district on A Street is set for expansion as a developer secures permits for a new subterranean 'house of ill-fame'.
- The Dungeon Behind the Standard Theater: Inside Seattle’s Terrifying Jail
A reporter’s inspection of Marshal Hamilton’s holding cells reveals prisoners sleeping on straw in a damp basement, fed by a restaurant manager who claims their diet is 'wholesome' and identical to his paying customers'.
- The Rotting Schoolhouse
A local mechanic alerts the city to a school building construction so shoddy it was doomed to collapse.
- A Perilous Ascent on Front Street
A construction worker suffers a violent fall while building a new home, sparking a community health scare in 1870s Seattle.
- Crushed Under a Falling Tier of Ties at the Newport Docks
A Northern Mercantile superintendent is pinned by heavy timbers while unloading a waterlogged barge, his back lacerated and left foot crushed.
- Worker Injured in Elevator Shaft Fall
A mortar man narrowly survives a thirty-foot plummet at the construction site of the Cadwell building.