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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
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21 stories matching cesspool
- The Parkland College Sewage Standoff
Despite pressure from the Public Works Commissioner, the president of Parkland College refuses to move a cesspool, claiming it poses no threat to city water.
- Found Dying in a Cesspool, a Laborer Takes His Last Secret With Him
Jack Kane was pulled unconscious from the Eagle Mill Co. grounds south of the Great Northern tracks. A missing watch, empty pockets and friends who suspect foul play left Newport with a death it could not explain.
- The Unfiltered Reality of Tacoma’s Water
An exposé reveals that the city's water supply flume runs through backyards and cesspools, gathering filth before reaching the tap.
- City Health Official Sounds Alarm on Water Supply
Dr. Schug confirms that Parkland cesspools are poisoning Tacoma's drinking water, urging residents to boil their supply.
- Typhoid and Scarlet Fever Shadow Seattle's Sewers
Health officer blames bad plumbing and cesspools as 21 typhoid cases, four fatal, are reported; a doctor prepares to test Lake Union and Lake Washington water.
- The Stinking Gutters of 1876
While Seattle promoters bragged of a salubrious climate, a local newspaper editorial exposed the reality of deadly, stagnant cesspools lining the streets.
- A Neighborhood Stench in the West End
Residents of Tacoma’s West End demand action after a broken sewer begins dumping raw waste onto an open lot.
- The Sanitary Crisis of 1885
Dr. J. M. W. Hedges demands immediate action on open cesspools, raw sewage, and the 'lodging house' filth threatening the health of early Seattle.
- Coulee City Targets 'Speed Demons' and Filthy Alleys
A newly empowered City Marshal is tasked with enforcing long-neglected sanitation ordinances and curbing reckless driving through the town's streets.
- The Fight for Clean Water in Parkland
City officials take aim at sanitation hazards at Parkland College that have been contaminating the local water supply.
- A Class Day of Mud and Ivy
Students of the class of 1915 traded their books for tools to beautify the school grounds, planting trees and laying a stone wall in a historic day of communal labor.
- The Tragedy of a Blasting Accident
After an industrial accident left a laborer blinded and injured, his family is left destitute and appealing for public charity to survive.
- The Drain Detectives
A warning to tenants: sewer gas is a hidden killer, and your landlord’s thrift might be costing you your health.
- South Tacoma’s Quest for Clean Water
City officials prepare to test new artesian wells, aiming to replace a water supply plagued by 'foul drainage' and contamination.
- Post-Fire Sanitation: The Fight for a Healthy Seattle
Following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, local physicians and concerned citizens publicly debated the city’s primitive sewer systems, warning that decaying waste in the 'burnt district' threatened a public health crisis.
- The Sting at the State Capital
A political whistleblower braves public scorn to expose the bribery and influence-peddling that turned the Washington State legislature into a 'reeking cesspool.'
- The Price of Challenging the Northern Pacific
After suing a railroad giant for injury, George Conroy was met with a perjury charge, jailed for the summer, and driven to insanity.
- The Great Seattle Audit: When the Mayor Defended the Ledger
Facing down accusations of corruption and fiscal recklessness, Seattle’s outgoing mayor releases a meticulous—and defensive—account of his administration's massive infrastructure push.
- Newport's Cesspool Crisis Made a Sewer System the Town's Biggest Need
With refuse in the streets and an epidemic feared, the Newport Miner backed a bond-financed sewerage plan in 1909.
- The Price of Neglect: Seattle's 1877 Health Crisis
As diphtheria sweeps through a growing Seattle, an 1877 editorial warns that city-wide sanitation failures and individual negligence are turning the climate's natural health into a breeding ground for disease.
- The Bug Inspector Who Called Himself a Crank — and Warned That Japanese Oranges Could Wreck Washington's Orchards
A King County insect inspector accuses the state horticultural commissioner of botching a fumigation order, then warns that the scale insects riding in on imported Japanese oranges could become "a curse to one of Washington's greatest industries."