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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
20 stories matching cleanup
- The Street Cleanup Petition
Business owners bypass the city council to force a pre-holiday cleanup of Kennewick's streets.
- Everett's First Annual City Cleanup
After a successful city-wide 'Clean-up' day, local editors urge residents and businesses to maintain pride in their streets year-round.
- A Shoemaker's Carefully Planned Farewell at the Grand Hotel
Carl Eggert, despondent over his wife's death and his son's suicide, shot himself in a Tacoma hotel after leaving detailed notes, money for the cleanup, and instructions to wait until morning.
- The Battle for the Soul of the Seattle Police Department
In an 1885 municipal election, Seattle women flexed their new political power to demand a moral cleanup of the city’s police force, specifically targeting the conduct of Chief of Police James Woolery.
- The 1892 Race for Seattle: A City in Construction
As Seattle geared up for the 1892 mayoral election, local candidates debated debt, expansion, and the 'moral' cleanup of the city while the railroad industry reshaped the landscape.
- The Great 1892 Debt Cleanup: How Seattle Tried to Bail Itself Out
Facing a mountain of unpaid municipal warrants and a legal crisis, Seattle's city council rushed a desperate bond measure to the ballot to keep the city's lights on and workers paid.
- City Hall Janitor Crushed in Elevator Tragedy
A routine morning cleanup ended in a gruesome death for an elderly janitor when an elevator started unexpectedly.
- Tacoma’s War on Rubbish
The Anti-Compulsory Vaccination society leads a citywide cleanup campaign, deputizing police to hunt down vacant-lot litter.
- Gunfire and a Moral Cleanup in Cusick
A whiskey-fueled crowd shot out the windows and back bar at Joe Cusick's saloon; the town's 'better element' answered by ordering 'lewd women' to leave.
- The Fire That Never Was: How Seattle’s Insurance Panic Saved the City
When two insurance executives declared Seattle a 'death trap' of combustible trash, they triggered a civic cleanup that lowered premiums and saved countless buildings from the flames that had already destroyed much of the city.
- The Chain Gang Strike: When Seattle’s Jailers Fed Rebels Bread and Water
Twelve roughs on the city's Commercial Street cleanup crew walked off the job, leaving six loyal workers to finish the job. The police response? Lock them in the darkest cells until their sentences expire.
- The Day Gambling Died in Walla Walla
New state legislation turns the tide on local gaming as businesses scramble to pull slot machines and shut down tables.
- The Great Cleanup of Seattle's Vice Districts
Chief of Police Monroe commands the immediate closure of all gambling houses and brothels, leading to a chaotic night of arrests and confusion in the city's underbelly.
- The Great Tax Cleanup of 1904
Walla Walla commissioners initiate a massive effort to purge decades of uncollectable tax debt, including lingering railroad disputes.
- Seattle Burned the Devil's Playthings in the City Furnace
The Colored Pastime Club's cards and tables went up in smoke, reviving memories of the Budweiser raid, Sheriff Cochran's cleanup, and the 1885 Chinese riots.
- Vice on the Rocks: Seattle's Cleanup
A sweeping, if optimistic, report on the courts cracking down on the city's infamous dens of inequity.
- A Legislative Cleanup for Washington's Tide Lands and School Lands
A joint committee found no corruption in the state land office but recommended abolishing costly local tide-land appraisers, trimming the land cruisers, and centralizing public-land oversight.
- Brush Fire Consumes Hay and Hog Pens at Costello Ranch
A routine cleanup of orchard waste turns into a local disaster when a sudden wind catches the rancher's winter feed supply.
- Kennewick’s War on Tin Cans
Mayor and council mandate April 1st as annual city-wide cleanup to combat malaria-carrying mosquitoes.
- The Great Seattle Real Estate Boom of 1888
A meticulously logged list of land deeds from the final days of 1888 reveals a city in the throes of explosive growth, with rapid development radiating outward from the central business district.
Also about this, in other words
- The Coulee City Clean-Up
A judge orders a local man to be forcibly scrubbed after being declared a public nuisance.
- The Great Seattle Street-Cleaning Decree
A desperate 1888 city ordinance threatens property owners with fines if they fail to scrub the filth from their sidewalk frontages.
- The Great Tacoma Spring Cleaning
Mayor Linck threatens arrests as the city scrambles to scrub up before an upcoming exposition.
- City Moves to Protect Water from Clover Creek Pollution
Public Works Commissioner Clark orders the removal of privies and manure heaps threatening Tacoma's water supply.
- 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 Great Scrubdown of 1888
Seattle’s new police chief takes a hose to the city jail, sweeping away years of filth and notoriety.
- Cleaning House at Olympia
A political scandal involving 'boodlemen' and an anti-corruption push in the Washington State legislature.
- The City Council vs. The Slaughterhouses
In an early effort to clean up the city's streets, the Seattle City Council orders the immediate abatement of butcher-shop nuisances.