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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1889 | 8 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1918 | 1 |
37 stories matching choicest
- The Dream of the Suburban Acre
In 1891, developers marketed the 'choicest' acre tracts in the newly burgeoning suburbs of Seattle, promising growth along the Rainier Avenue Electric Railway.
- The Real Estate Battle for the Heights
Before the neighborhood was fully formed, the Renton Addition was marketed as the 'Fifth Avenue of Seattle,' sparking a feverish battle for transit and development on the city's highest crest.
- The Dream of the Suburban Garden Plot
Developers in 1891 sold city dwellers on the 'choicest' acreages just outside of the developing Seattle core, promising a life of suburban gardens along the new Rainier Avenue electric line.
- The Refreshments at the Dolly Varden
A frontier watering hole offers 'all the best brands' to the growing population of Snohomish City.
- The Boom-Era Dream of the Rainier Valley
An 1891 advertisement paints a vivid picture of the speculative fever that drove Seattle's suburban expansion along the new electric streetcar lines.
- The Dream of Suburban Seattle
Promoters sell 'garden tracts' near the newly-built Rainier Avenue electric rail line, promising a suburban retreat from the bustling city center.
- German Musical Societies Converge on Walla Walla
Hundreds gather for a regional festival of German choral music, marking a high point of cultural activity in Walla Walla’s opera house.
- The Pythian Revels: A Dry Town's Mock Rebellion
While Washington navigates its new prohibition laws, a local fraternal order plans a satirical 'Red Letter' parade to mock the state's dry mandate.
- The Yakima Valley's Tobacco Future
New experiments on the Moxee plantation show that Yakima’s climate and soil could produce tobacco to rival Cuba’s.
- The Coming of 'War Bread'
Federal authorities mandate a shift in milling standards as Washington residents are warned to prepare for lower-grade flour and higher prices.
- Seattle Claims Victory in the Gridiron Mud
A rainy, sludge-filled football clash at Madison Park sees Seattle avenge its previous defeat against Tacoma.
- 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 Timber Monopoly Holding Everett Hostage
A fiery editorial calls out the Puget Mill Company for hoarding vast tracts of land and artificially inflating timber prices while ignoring the welfare of the local community.
- The King of the Timber Land Jumpers
A self-confessed fraudster who stole 70,000 acres of Washington timber land turns on his former syndicate partners.
- The Builder of Seattle’s Skyline Passes Away
Otto Ranke, the contractor behind the Pioneer and Yester buildings, dies at his Madison and Tenth home.
- The Boom-Time Promises of Brooklyn, Seattle
A 19th-century real estate advertisement paints a picture of a rapidly inflating Seattle and the hopeful, speculative fervor surrounding the Lake Union district.
- The Invasive Species Warning
Local fruit inspectors warn that imported Japanese nursery stock is bringing destructive scale insects that threaten to devastate Washington orchards.
- The New Spirit of Front Street
As Seattle's wholesale economy matures in the 1870s, a new firm moves into the Pontius Building to cut out the San Francisco middleman.
- The Madison Street Land Rush of 1889
As Seattle boomed, developers marketed Madison Street as the 'Fifth Avenue of the West,' promising a paradise for the wealthy while ignoring the reality of the city's rugged, unmapped hills.
- The Real Estate Fever of 1889
Before the city’s massive expansion, syndicates and speculators mapped out the future of West Seattle and Lake Union, promising a new 'pleasure and suburban resort' for the growing masses.
- The Grandest Affair of the Year: Knights Templar and Eastern Star Unite for New Year's Eve
Seattle’s elite gathered at Commandery No. 10 for a lavish installation ceremony, complete with Indian impersonations, sword presentations, and a feast that lasted until dawn.
- 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 End of the Railroad Land Grab
A trio of government decisions finally ends the Northern Pacific's long-standing practice of seizing settler homes in Washington Territory.
- The Last Great Gush: West Seattle’s Promoters Promise Paradise on the Edge of the Sound
In February 1889, real estate agents and newspaper editors were busy selling a dream of West Seattle, touting its majestic views of Mount Rainier and promising that the new railroad would turn this rugged plateau into the next gold rush for land speculators.
- The Great Seattle Silence: A Christmas Without Drunks or Arrests
In a rare departure from holiday tradition, the city remained remarkably sober and quiet on Christmas Day 1876, with zero arrests recorded despite the usual festive revelry.