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| Year | Stories |
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| 1877 | 4 |
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| 1894 | 6 |
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64 stories matching biggest
- The Rockefeller Land Grab: How a $2 Million Deal Bought Seattle’s Lakefront
In January 1891, the massive Lake Washington Belt Line Improvement Company, backed by John D. Rockefeller and former Governor Russell A. Alger, acquired nearly 13,000 acres of eastern Lake Washington shoreline for steel and iron works, signaling the dawn of heavy industry in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Day Seattle Swallowed 10,000 Strangers: The Great Fourth of July Flood
In 1888, the Territory of Washington threw its biggest-ever Independence Day celebration. Steamers arrived loaded with visitors until the streets were so packed that police could barely move. Here is how Seattle hosted a crowd that nearly burst its seams.
- The Biggest Check Ever Written
A staggering 225,000-bushel wheat sale by George Drumheller sparks a frenzy of trading, turning the city's streets into a bustling theater of politics and grain prices.
- The Price of Reckless Clearing
A brush-clearing fire near Yacolt spiraled into one of the Northwest's most catastrophic blazes, incinerating 23,000 acres and destroying $200,000 in property.
- The Tacoma Land Grab: How Rich Men Tried to Steal Washington’s Senate Seat
In January 1891, Seattle’s press rallied behind incumbent Senator Watson Squire against a rival backed by Tacoma’s wealthy elite, exposing a bitter battle over whether the state would be ruled by its people or its land barons.
- The Great Seattle Streetcar Consolidation
A multi-million dollar maneuver promises to unify the city's competing electric lines, potentially abandoning local power-houses in a massive quest for operational efficiency.
- Private Employment Agents Fight Back Against the City's Free Labor Bureau
Accused of swindling job-seekers, a Seattle employment firm blames organized labor and a union-backed city bureau for a campaign to put it out of business — and dares the city to investigate.
- Hop Growers Pledge Their 'Word and Honor' to Pay Pickers Less
With the hop market collapsing in the summer of 1894, growers from ten Puget Sound counties met at Puyallup and fixed a single price for picking — 65 to 75 cents a box, down from the dollar they had promised. Ezra Meeker, the valley's biggest grower, said out loud what the resolution implied: the pickers had no seat at the table.
- The Jefferson County Political Volcano
A local Democratic club launches a full-scale mutiny against the Collector of Customs, accusing him of cronyism and financial improprieties.
- The World’s Biggest Dam Proposed for Priest Rapids
An industrial visionary outlines plans for a massive hydroelectric and nitrogen-fixation project that could transform the Columbia Basin into a powerhouse of chemical production.
- The Mine That Wasn’t? A Captain Denies a Half-Million-Dollar Gold Swindle
An English capitalist’s suit against Alaska millionaires turned a Port Townsend sailing into a Pacific Coast sensation, with charges of swapped ore, gold-soaked drill cores, and a forceful denial from Capt. James Carroll.
- Walla Walla's Year of Fire
The local fire department reports a record-breaking 104 alarms for the year, including three major blazes that leveled local businesses.
- The Heaviest Rain Ever Recorded Swamped Grays Harbor and Stranded the Trains
3.27 inches in twenty-four hours, a sixty-hour gale, and washouts from Elma to Ocosta: the November 1892 storm cut every rail line into Aberdeen and left the Wynooche out of its banks.
- Richland Elects First Female Council Member
In a historic local election, Mrs. C. D. Hopper secures a seat on the Richland City Council, marking a significant milestone for women in regional civic leadership.
- The Ghost of a Civic Dream: Seattle’s Lost City Hall
A century-old bequest for a grand municipal building sits unclaimed, as a local property owner laments the city's scattered, inefficient offices.
- The Midnight Raid on Seattle's Gambling Halls
A surprise police sweep through Seattle's gaming dens sends hundreds of players scrambling into the rainy streets, leaving gambling tools and jail cells in their wake.
- Harrington & Smith Secure Waterfront Legacy
A landmark property transfer on Commercial Street marks the largest private real estate sale in the Territory's history.
- The Rush to the Ballot Box
Thirteen Russian immigrants naturalized in a single evening to meet the city registration deadline, allegedly bankrolled by a local political machine.
- Walla Walla Commits to Major Infrastructure Overhaul
City Council moves to shore up Mill Creek and repair crumbling streets in a session of ambitious public works.
- The Republic Mine Option
A potential three-million-dollar mining deal in Republic, Washington, sparks major industry rumors.
- The Mysterious Disappearance of L. Fare
A pioneer resident vanishes from his Keyport home, which was found burned to the ground; sheriff finds no evidence of a body in the ashes.
- Gold Fever on the Skagit: A Prospector's Report
Fresh from the gold fields, miners report that the Skagit region is sparkling with riches, promising to make skeptics take a backseat.
- The City’s Biggest Celebration
Athletic contests and a tense yacht race on the Sound defined Seattle's 1880 Fourth of July.
- The Science of Life Comes to the Coal Mines
When a traveling medical lecturer visited the coal town of Newcastle in 1877, the entire community turned out to witness a performance that mixed professional medical advice with public heckling of the town's elite.
- The Dealer in the Gambling Den
In the rowdy timber town of Sedro-Woolley, the local gamblers have found a unique way to keep the peace: replacing the standard rough-hewn card shark with a captivating young woman.