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1. The Pastor Who Couldn't Find a Sermon

   In a rare moment of self-awareness, a Seattle clergyman confesses to his deacon that the city's news cycle is so dry he can't even find material for Sunday's sermon.

   May 21, 1882Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

2. The Christmas Poultry Heist

   Two local drifters outsmart a tavern keeper in a holiday shooting match scheme.

   Dec 13, 1862Washington StandardOlympia, Thurston CountyTrue Crime

3. The Great Seattle Fire Erased Our Roots

   An early record of Seattle’s vanished architecture and the displacement of its first churches following the devastating 1889 fire.

   Jul 1, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerGreat Seattle Fire, Seattle, King CountyDisasters

4. The Church Coup d'Etat

   A bitter schism at the Market Street Baptist Church culminates in a hostile procedural maneuver to re-elect a controversial pastor.

   Feb 11, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMarket Street, Seattle, King CountyScandal

5. The Mobbing of the Moralizers

   When four prominent temperance leaders and a local businessman tried to close down a suspected illegal saloon, they were met on the street and pelted with rotten eggs.

   Jul 29, 1899The Seattle StarPuyallup, Pierce CountyNightlife

6. A Newspaper Editor's Silence in Court: The Lugrin Libel Trial

   C. H. Lugrin, managing editor of the Seattle Telegraph, rested his defense without calling witnesses in a libel trial brought by Police Chief Rogers. The case now goes to the jury.

   Aug 10, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

7. The Constable Who Preached Instead of Punched

   In a small Washington town, one officer’s radical experiment in restorative justice is turning criminals into church members—and neighbors are taking notice.

   Apr 21, 1899The Seattle StarYakima Valley, Yakima CountyCity Hall · Local Legends

8. The Midnight Church Feud of Tacoma

   A power struggle in a local Baptist church turns into a bizarre, locked-door standoff where the pastor eventually resorted to extinguishing the lights to force dissenters out.

   Jun 7, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyScandal

9. The Ballot Box Tug-of-War

   When the right to vote was first won, newly enfranchised women in Seattle faced an immediate, domestic gauntlet of political pressure and neighborhood intrigue.

   Nov 20, 1886Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

10. The New Rail Connection to Moscow

    A rail expansion project promises a 'magnificent boom' for the towns of Pullman and Moscow, fueled by land donations and rapid construction.

    Jul 11, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerMoscow, Whitman CountyBoom & Bust

11. The Senator, the Booster and the 39 Gambling Halls

    A Spokane millionaire refused to clean up a vice-ridden building because, he said, Tacoma would happily take the business.

    Nov 24, 1891The Olympia TribuneSpokane, Spokane CountyBoom & Bust · Nightlife

12. The Pioneer Who Built Fremont’s First Home

    Hugh Russell, a central figure in early Fremont, died while milking a cow, leaving a legacy of community infrastructure that still shapes the neighborhood today.

    Mar 15, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

13. The First Rector of Trinity: A Quarter Century, and a Church Rebuilt from the Fire

    Rev. George Herbert Watson marked 25 years in the ministry and 16 in Seattle, where he founded Trinity Parish, started Grace Hospital, and saw his first church destroyed in the Great Fire.

    Jul 16, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

14. The Sad End of the Bark Maria

    A historic, weather-beaten vessel from Ecuador meets its final demise on the Seattle waterfront after a lifetime at sea.

    Apr 5, 1884Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyDisasters

15. The Senator and the Boomer

    Senator Frye recounts a colorful anecdote about Spokane Falls, gambling, and the ruthless competition between Washington cities.

    Jun 4, 1891The Yakima HeraldSpokane, Spokane CountyBoom & Bust · Nightlife

16. A Seattle Church Honors the Bishop Who Built Black Methodism on the Coast

    The African Methodist Episcopal church on Jones Street fills for memorial exercises for Bishop Thomas M. D. Ward, a Pacific Coast missionary and the denomination's tenth bishop.

    Jul 30, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

17. The Tall Tale of Germantown’s New Arrival

    A young newcomer spins wildly imaginative yarns of buried gold and subterranean earthquakes, charming the neighborhood kids and confounding their parents.

    Oct 21, 1876The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyStrange But True

18. First Baptist Church of Newcastle Founded

    A council of Seattle-area Baptists gathers to establish a new congregation in Newcastle.

    Dec 30, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerNewcastle, King County

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