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33 stories matching dilapid
- The End of Wooden Seattle
A historic property deal marks a turning point as Seattle trades its 'dilapidated, squatty, and dangerous' wooden storefronts for modern, multi-story brick architecture.
- A Sick Hospital for Seamen
Senator Squire intervenes as reports surface about the wretched, dilapidated state of the Port Townsend Marine Hospital.
- Tacoma Residents Complain of Noisy, Dilapidated Streetcars
Mayor Linck demands action against the Pacific Traction Company as citizens protest the jarring noise of 'triangular' wheels.
- Chehalis Logger Minor Martin Drowns in River Crossing
A logger attempts to cross a swollen, rapid river in a damaged boat and drowns, leaving behind a family.
- Industrial Peril on the Waterfront
A railroad switchman is critically injured while coupling cars on the dangerous, unlit Seattle waterfront.
- Commuting in a Frog Pond
Tacoma residents vent their frustration over dilapidated, rain-soaked cable cars as they await much-needed transit upgrades.
- The Struggle for Space: Seattle’s Overcrowded Schools in 1887
An 1887 inspection of Seattle's public schools reveals a city straining against its rapid growth, featuring dilapidated buildings, overcrowding, and a desperate search for adequate space for its pupils.
- The Night Fort Townsend Burned
A lamp explosion, a magazine full of cartridges, and a town’s fear that the Army would leave.
- The Halibut Bank Misadventure
An ambitious fishing excursion turns into a comedy of errors, leaving local thrill-seekers more acquainted with seasickness than with their quarry.
- The Discovery of an Abandoned Infant
A tragic mystery unfolds in Ellensburg as a newborn's remains are found in a discarded valise.
- The Day the Steamers Left Puget Sound
An 1861 Steilacoom editor warns that losing ocean steamship service will isolate Washington Territory and strangle its growth.
- The Lure of the West: A Pioneer’s Review of the New Frontier
An old-timer returns from an Eastern tour to report on the state of the Northern Pacific line and the promise of the Washington Territory.
- The Shack They Called a Courthouse
A visiting traveler shames Seattle's leadership for holding federal court in a dilapidated building while tax dollars bled away.
- The City Mission's Winter Struggle
A basement mission in 1892 Seattle provides soup, shelter, and strict discipline for the city's growing population of out-of-work laborers.
- The 'Street Arabs' Terrorizing Pioneer Seattle
A wave of juvenile vandalism strikes Front Street, leaving local merchants and the South School House in ruins.
- Walla Walla Committee Asks General Funston to Keep Fort
A committee from the Commercial Club met with General Funston to lobby against the military's plan to abandon the local garrison.
- The Price of Neglect: Seattle’s Summer Stench
In 1876, the Duly Intelligencer called out the city for ignoring stagnant, disease-breeding gutters in the business district, warning that the 'healthiest city on the coast' was becoming a hotbed for fever.
- Queen Anne Parents Freeze the School Fund
Residents obtain an injunction to stop the school board from spending building money on other warrants, charging that children are stuck in a ruinous board structure.
- The Town That 'Resorted to Flat-Boats'
A skeptical writer from Walla Walla mocked Olympia’s tide-swept landscape, prompting a sharp, defensive retort from the local editor.
- Thirty Hours Adrift Off West Point, Waving a Coat at Half-Mast
A passing steamboat captain spots a dismasted sloop wallowing off the Magnolia bluff; the tug Mayflower goes out and brings back a man who had run out of food, water and luck.
- The 'Ring' and the Rot: A 1872 Call for Municipal Reform
A scathing letter to the editor of the Puget Sound Dispatch exposes a culture of county-level corruption and financial mismanagement that mirrors modern political frustrations.
- The Transformation of Seattle's 'Pencils'
A beloved local street vendor and Civil War veteran receives a surprise wardrobe upgrade from a local merchant, sparking a reflection on Seattle's unique local legends.
- Man Overboard: A Desperate Rescue Off the Port Townsend Wharf
When a crewman is swept off the steamer North Pacific just after she leaves the dock, two boats race the heavy swell to pull him from the water alive.
- Half-Finished Streets and a Man-Trap on Main: The Tribune Takes the City to Task
On the morning of a council meeting, Olympia's paper catalogues the abandoned plank road, the blocked gutters, the depot sidewalk rotting for two weeks, and a hole in Main Street waiting to cost the city money.
- The Parade Ground Is Now a Ward: A Visitor Walks the Territory's Asylum
Where the 4th Infantry once drilled to fife and drum, a correspondent finds sagging fences, two overworked keepers to a men's ward, and a lone matron holding the women's department — all on an appropriation he calls 'a shame to our people.'