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| Year | Stories |
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| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 1 |
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| 1888 | 15 |
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52 stories matching cheapest
- The Dream of 'Palatine Hill': An 1888 Real Estate Pitch
Before the city sprawled into the hills, developers promised the 'cheapest property' and a future of manufacturing jobs in this ambitious suburban subdivision near Seattle.
- Seattle's Audacious Bid for a Fresh-Water Harbor
In 1890, boosters promised that a ship canal from Lake Washington to Puget Sound would cut docking costs, defeat wood-boring teredo worms, and hand Seattle the world's cheapest harbor.
- The Great Land Rush: Seattle’s West Side and Coney Island of the Northwest
As real estate brokers hawk cleared lots for $200 and advertise excursion trips to 'Coney Island' pleasure groves, Seattle is rapidly transforming from a logging town into a booming speculative market.
- The Dream of Palatine: 1888 Real Estate Hype in Seattle
A sprawling advertisement for a 'suburban' development in the Salmon Bay area reveals how developers promised working-class families a foothold in the rapidly industrializing north Seattle.
- The Boom at Ross Station: Selling the Future of Seattle
Developers pitch affordable suburban lots near Salmon Bay to laborers, promising a new hub of industry just three miles from downtown.
- The Rise of the Suburban Commute
Promotional real estate copy from 1888 reveals the birth of Seattle's northern suburbs, marketing small lots to working-class families tethered to new industrial rail lines.
- The False Doctrine of 'Supply and Demand'
A labor manifesto argues that using the 'cheapest man' to set wage standards is a race to the bottom that threatens the integrity of community and family life.
- The Dream of Palatine Hill: An 1888 Real Estate Pitch
Before the neighborhood existed, developers were selling the 'cheap' dream of suburban living near the new railroad line, promising workers a home near the Smith Cove car shops.
- The Dream of Palatine Hill: A Late 1880s Real Estate Pitch
A historical advertisement promises affordable suburban lots near the Ross Station, marketing a vision of homeownership to the working class of the rapidly expanding Seattle area.
- The Unsparing Champion of Right
In 1878, the Weekly Puget Sound Dispatch positioned itself as the 'Fearless Champion' of the common citizen, promising to be the cheapest and most comprehensive source of news in the Washington Territory.
- The Iron Giant Lands: Moss Bay Steel Chooses Seattle Without Asking for a Penny
In a stunning victory for civic pride over corporate bribery, the massive Moss Bay Iron and Steel Company has selected Lake Washington as its site, rejecting lucrative bonuses from rival cities and the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- The Railroad That Couldn't Steal His Home
How a local homesteader outlasted the Northern Pacific Railway in a decade-long legal battle over land rights.
- The $8,000 Schoolyard Fight
A losing contractor accuses Seattle’s school board of steering a South School grounds contract to a favored bidder and wasting taxpayer money. The board fires back that the cheapest bids were unsafe and that a $25,000 schoolhouse was at risk of falling.
- The Eight-Hour War: Metal Trades Try to Block Panama Fair
Everett labor leaders expose an attempt by regional employers to force open-shop conditions on the San Francisco World's Fair.
- The Dream of 'Palatine Hill': Selling the Industrial Suburb
Promotional copy from 1888 captures the rapid-fire development of Seattle’s outskirts, dangling the promise of affordable housing to laborers near the new railroad lines.
- Seattle Democrats Bolt Their Own Party Over the Lake Washington Canal
Furious that the state convention caved to Pierce County and denounced the Lake Washington canal, King County Democrats vow to vote the Republican ticket — and to knife their own party from top to bottom.
- The $1,000 Payroll: How Seattle’s Hop Boom Put Cash in Local Hands
A local farmer’s record-breaking harvest didn’t just fill warehouses—it injected a thousand dollars into the city’s economy by hiring Indigenous laborers who spent their wages right here.
- The Great Statehood Gamble: How Washington Territory Bet Its Future on a Coin Flip
In February 1889, Congress passed the 'Omnibus Bill' granting statehood to four territories simultaneously. For Seattle and Tacoma, this wasn't just political news—it was a high-stakes gamble that would determine their city limits, tax structures, and place in history.
- The Iron Road Rushes East
In 1892, railroad tycoon James J. Hill arrived in Spokane to finalize plans for a massive rail expansion that would forever link the Columbia River plateau to the transcontinental network.
- The Legislators Who Came to See a Ditch—and Left Believers
A steamboat tour of Smith Cove and Lake Union turns Eastern Washington lawmakers into ship-canal converts.
- Aberdeen Pitched as Future Hub for Tannin Extract
A San Francisco representative scouts the Grays Harbor basin, eyeing the abundance of bark and labor as the keys to a new industrial empire.
- Keeping the Pass Open in Winter
A bold effort to keep the Snoqualmie Pass trail clear for cattle drivers sets a new precedent for Cascade mountain travel.
- The Promised Suburb: Sales Pitch for Palatine Hill
A late 19th-century land developer lures Seattle workers to a ‘suburban’ frontier near Salmon Bay with promises of factories and affordable housing.
- The Real Estate Boom of the 1880s
Promotional copy for a new suburban development near Salmon Bay promised cheap, accessible housing for the city's rapidly growing workforce.
- The Dream of a Working-Class Suburb at Palatine Hill
Promoters marketed the new Palatine Hill addition near Salmon Bay as the ideal, affordable commuter retreat for the city's growing workforce of laborers and mechanics.
Also about this, in other words
- The Saw That Conquered the Snohomish Timber Frontier
Before high-tech machinery, local loggers relied on the 'Silver Steel' saw, a tool marketed as the most efficient way to fell the giants of Washington Territory.
- The Price of a 'Cheap' Haircut
Everett union barbers expose an unlicensed 'lady barber' working in a non-union shop.
- The Great Beef Price Drop of 1893
Wholesale cuts fall to record lows, making meat affordable for the city's working poor during the lean winter.
- The Price of Elegance in 1883
A look at the luxury fabrics and household goods enticing early Seattleites at the Golden Rule Bazaar.
- The Fight for Cheaper Calls
City council debates regulating telephone rates and forcing lines underground in a push to modernize Seattle's infrastructure.
- The Cheap Alternative to Pavement
A visionary proposes using straw to harden dusty, alkali-laden country roads for wheat transport.
- The Struggle Over the Port Orchard Dry Dock
The federal government hesitates to award a massive contract for a key Navy project, citing doubts about the contractor's ability to deliver.
- The Dangerous Precedent of the 'Lowest Bidder'
The local paper critiques a political candidate for promising to run a public office on a budget that defies fiscal reality.