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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 10 |
| 1893 | 12 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1899 | 5 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1918 | 1 |
99 stories matching debri
- A Ghastly Find in the Ruins of the Spokane Mill
Construction debris yields the remains of a man presumed to be a victim of a fire from months prior.
- Seattle Rebuilds After Fire, Clearing Ruins and Sheltering Residents
Following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city grapples with the logistics of debris clearance, housing relief, and the return of labor.
- The Great Reconstruction: Seattle Rebuilds from the Ashes
Just weeks after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, hundreds of laborers mobilize to clear debris and reconstruct the city’s vital infrastructure.
- A Night of Terror in Dixie
A sudden cloudburst near Walla Walla sweeps away a family's home, leaving two children dead in the debris.
- The Tragic Wreck of the Leonor
Survivors and debris on the coast near La Push tell a harrowing story of a ship lost to the jagged rocks during a gale.
- The Bottleneck of Yesler Way
A dangerous, debris-filled junction at Yesler, Front, and Commercial streets creates a daily traffic nightmare for Seattle's commerce.
- The Dock That Swallowed Five: A Narrow Escape on Madison Street
In a sudden collapse that sent debris crashing into the Sound, five people survived by inches when a poorly constructed lunchroom and menagerie annex gave way beneath them.
- McNaught’s Wharf Collapses Into the Harbor
A collapse of a waterfront warehouse leaves a local fish merchant with a total loss as scavengers claim the debris.
- Scavenging in the Ashes
While Seattle recovers from the Great Fire of 1889, opportunists sift through the debris of the burned post office in search of mail—and valuables.
- The Mill That Rose From Sunday's Ashes
Within days of a devastating fire, Whitehouse-Crimmins set 50 men to clearing debris and laid plans for a brick plant that would be running by December.
- The Struggle to Keep Seattle Clean in 1888
As Seattle prepared for a massive influx of tourists for a summer celebration, one citizen publicly shamed the city's leadership for allowing its streets to remain a cluttered, hazardous mess of construction debris.
- The Seattle Iron Works Tragedy
A devastating structural collapse and fire at a downtown factory leaves dozens of workers dead or critically injured in a haunting industrial disaster.
- The Great Storm of 1894
A violent cyclone-like windstorm tears through Western Washington, leveling buildings and trapping citizens in the debris.
- The Great Seattle Fire: Building a City from Ash and Embers
In the immediate aftermath of the devastating 1889 fire that leveled the city’s business district, Seattle residents and property owners rush to clear the smoldering ruins and plan a more substantial, brick-built future.
- The Rebirth of a Burned City
Following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city pivots from disaster to rapid reconstruction, grappling with housing, labor, and the challenge of rebuilding a metropolis from ashes.
- Midnight Panic at the St. Cloud
A spectacular five-story blaze in downtown Seattle forces guests to flee in their nightclothes, leaving a landmark hotel in ruins.
- The Great 1894 Flood Devastates the Pacific Northwest
As rivers finally begin to recede, towns from Conconully to Portland recount the total destruction of homes, bridges, and livelihoods in the wake of the historic spring freshet.
- Seattle Rebuilds After the 1889 Great Fire
A catastrophic blaze levels the city’s business district, triggering a massive relief effort and ushering in new urban planning.
- Ballard’s Water Main Failures Lead to Block-Wide Inferno
A fire in an avenue saloon rapidly spiraled out of control when the local water system failed to provide enough pressure to fight the flames.
- Under Fire on the Way to Spokane: Seattle's Militia Rode Into a Rail War
Col. Joseph Green's detachment returns from Spokane after escorting a mutinied company through burned bridges, ambushes and striker country—and the city turns out to cheer.
- The Great Seattle Fire of 1889: Organizing Relief Amidst Chaos
Following the cataclysmic fire that leveled downtown, city officials and volunteer committees scrambled to house the displaced and maintain order in the charred remains of the district.
- The Town That Washed Away
A sudden deluge destroyed nearly the entire county seat of Okanogan County, leaving survivors homeless and struggling.
- Death Reared Its Horrid Head: Steam Heater Explosion Kills Two Men in Downtown Seattle
A careless Japanese fireman left a boiler unattended at Second and Washington, causing a catastrophic explosion that killed one man instantly and mortally wounded another.
- Telescoped at the Crossing: A Grant Street Horror
When a Northern Pacific freight train plowed into an electric streetcar on May 20, 1909, one man died and dozens were mangled in the icy water below. The crash exposed dangerous speeds and negligent watchmen at a city intersection that remains vital today.
- The Day the Wind Took Down Tacoma’s New Buildings
A fierce storm topples a nearly finished commercial building, claiming the life of a prominent contractor and leaving a city in shock.
Also about this, in other words
- A Question of Sanity and Secrets in Port Townsend
A high-stakes insanity trial hinges on medical testimony and a mysterious tin box rumored to contain exonerating evidence.
- The Tragic End of a Visionary
Captain R. W. De Lion, a prominent figure in regional shipping and a former Port Townsend mayor, takes his own life in Seattle after a period of declining health and financial strain.
- The Tragedy of a 'Model' Citizen
A wealthy man's obsession with his wife's supposed infidelity leads to a dramatic, morphine-fueled insanity trial.
- Fifteen Minutes to Confess: The Morphine Trial of Port Townsend's Captain De Lion
A former mayor, Chilean consul and dry-dock promoter worth half a million dollars sits in superior court while his emaciated wife describes a year of morphine, delusion and a pocket watch set on the table between them.
- The Miracle Man of the Tremont House
A Seattle sawmill worker recounts his miraculous recovery from a mysterious 'general nervous debility' thanks to a touring medical lecturer.
- A Woman Defies Her Husband’s Attempts at Institutionalization
A Colfax woman successfully defends her sanity after her husband attempts to have her committed to an asylum.