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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1862 | 4 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1872 | 3 |
| 1876 | 20 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 6 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 5 |
| 1883 | 21 |
| 1884 | 10 |
| 1885 | 19 |
| 1886 | 13 |
| 1887 | 15 |
| 1888 | 13 |
| 1889 | 47 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 23 |
| 1892 | 37 |
| 1893 | 68 |
| 1894 | 63 |
| 1895 | 82 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 4 |
| 1899 | 19 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 26 |
| 1904 | 32 |
| 1905 | 4 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 9 |
| 1909 | 26 |
| 1910 | 6 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 4 |
| 1915 | 3 |
| 1916 | 7 |
| 1917 | 4 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 4 |
| 1925 | 2 |
637 stories matching delay
- The Great Northern Snow Plow: President Hill’s Battle with the Cascades
While Seattle slept, railroad magnate James J. Hill fought a war against the elements, his train delayed by drifts and snowplows in a dramatic struggle that highlights the fragility of early 20th-century transit.
- A Railroad the Valley Needed—and Another Year of Waiting
Federal regulators ordered a fresh hearing on the Wenatchee Southern, infuriating Central Washington growers who said poor transport was costing them millions.
- The Mugwump’s Ledger: How Seattle’s Territorial Secretary Gamed the Law Printing Contract
A fierce editorial exposes Secretary Owings for delaying the publication of territorial laws to favor a cronies’ printing bid, while padding the bill with 40 pages of his own party platform.
- Seattle's Bid to Be the Liverpool of America
In 1895, boosters imagined a Lake Washington ship canal turning Puget Sound into a freshwater harbor for world commerce, coal trade, and naval power.
- Bureaucratic Delay, Bloody Quarrels: The Land Survey That Left Homesteaders in Limbo for 15 Years
Senator Squire demands answers from the General Land Office as settlers on townships 38-40 wait over a decade for their land titles, with boundary disputes turning deadly.
- 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 Dredgers Are Coming: Seattle's Canal Project Finally Starts Moving
After years of financing delays, engineers promised to begin bulkheads and surveys on the south canal—and to haul giant hydraulic dredgers north to reshape the tide flats.
- Puyallup People Wait on Delayed Land Patents
A century-old battle for property rights reveals how corporate interests and federal delays threatened to dispossess the Puyallup people of their ancestral home.
- The City's Indecent Ambulance
A delayed ambulance and a harrowing scene on the city streets reveal the crumbling state of Seattle's emergency services in 1899.
- The Mail is Broken in Seattle
Citizens and businesses are forced to pay for private clerks because the federal postal service cannot keep up with the city's explosive growth.
- Fifty Shingle Men March Up the Hill—and Back Down Again
Seattle's shingle manufacturers spend a full day fixing prices, then panic and rescind the whole scheme in the final five minutes.
- The Postal War: How Snohomish’s Star Exposed Seattle’s Corrupt Postmaster
In June 1877, the editor of the *Snohomish Star* launched a blistering public attack on the Seattle post office, alleging that political cronyism and negligence were deliberately delaying his paper to protect local rivals.
- City Council Delays Naming a Health Officer
Seattle's City Council stalled on hiring a health officer, wrongly believing the county was responsible for contagion in a city being swept by regional fears.
- Seattle's Public Library Dreams Put on Hold
After clearing the site of previous tenants, city officials stall on the construction of a new permanent home for the public library, leaving the project in limbo.
- Railroad Mishap at Martin's Mill
Three track workers jump to safety as a delayed passenger train smashes their section car at a blind curve.
- The City That Couldn't Float: Steamship 'Seattle' Breaks Down on Its Maiden Voyage
A mechanical failure leaves the vessel adrift in the Pacific, forcing a British tug to tow it home while passengers and crew endure a humiliating delay.
- King County's Treasurer Missed His Bond Deadline. Then the Fight Began.
Elected treasurer Maple failed to file a legally sufficient bond by January 14, prompting a substitute appointment and a sharp editorial fight over forfeiture, sureties and the public's right to an investigation.
- A Tie Vote Leaves Newport's Telephone Franchise Hanging
The old council adjourns sine die after deadlocking on a telephone ordinance; the new mayor and marshal take office amid a 154-name petition.
- A Missing Clause Stalls the Road Through the Cascades
Whatcom and Skagit expected a governor's commission and an early start. The enrolled bill in Olympia had lost its emergency clause, and the delay was already being blamed on the wrong people.
- Puyallup Tribe Demands Accountability
A committee of twelve Puyallup tribal leaders issued an ultimatum to land commissioners they claim are avoiding open discussion of reservation rights.
- Doctor Questions City's Smallpox Quarantine Delay
A health officer faces a public revolt after a suspected smallpox outbreak at a local mission leads to a tense standoff and accusations of official negligence.
- Puyallup Families Finally Win Title to Their Land
While the President ordered land titles for the Puyallup people in 1884, a corrupt 'ring' of speculators held up the process to seize the property for profit.
- The Iron Hotel: Seattle's Jail Let Convicted Killers Wait Out the Law
A 1905 exposé inside the King County jail found convicted murderers lingering for years in a steel cage while appeals stalled, one prisoner fashioning a pistol from a shoe shank and escaping, and taxpayers footing the bill.
- Washington Territory's Eight-Year Push for Statehood
A Senate floor speech details the eight-year struggle for Washington Territory to shed its frontier status and become a state, including the controversial proposal to annex Idaho's northern panhandle.
- The Bold Plan to Build the Lake Washington Canal
Facing gridlock in Congress, Seattle’s Chamber of Commerce pushed a local bill to authorize the county to construct the canal itself, aiming to transform the city into the 'first city on the Pacific coast.'
Also about this, in other words
- Bureaucratic Delay Stalls Puyallup Land Commission
Federal inertia leaves a key commission unappointed, as the Interior Department claims it is too busy with the national silver debate.
- The Great Railroad Delay: Washington Territory’s Fight for the Northern Pacific
Federal lawmakers in Washington D.C. have rejected a proposal to settle land claims in Washington Territory, opting instead to grant the Northern Pacific Railway an eight-year extension to complete its tracks.
- The Unintended Cost of a Building Delay
A construction dispute over the Gottstein Building leads to a rare courtroom victory for the defendants against a major contractor.
- The Bottleneck at the Port of Tacoma
While Seattle’s docks are praised for their 'prompt' efficiency, the port of Tacoma is suffering from a two-month delay in cargo loading, frustrating ship masters and hurting the regional economy.
- The Bridge That Saved a Boarding House
A ten-minute delay caused by a passing ship allowed firefighters to extinguish a blaze in the St. Paul Tacoma Lumber Company’s housing before it could spread.
- Seattle’s Wire War: Why the City Can’t Wait for Electric Companies to Dig
As corporations drag their feet on burying overhead lines, a local editorial warns that procrastination is a corporate scheme to defeat the public will.
- The Freight Bottleneck on the Waterfront
Local merchants clash with the Pacific Coast Steamship Company over the delayed delivery of perishable goods.
- The Looming Bottleneck: Seattle’s Growing Pains in 1888
An architect’s urgent warning to city leaders echoes through time: invest in infrastructure now, or pay ten times the cost later.