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56 stories matching diminish
- The Dream of a Shortcut to the World
A century and a half ago, Seattle boosters saw a Central American canal as the key to unlocking Washington’s timber wealth and connecting it to the globe.
- The Water That Wasn't There: Seattle's First Major Infrastructure Crisis
As the city prepares for its first major expansion, the Seattle Water Company announces a total shutdown of supply to upper levels, leaving residents and businesses in the dark.
- 1878 Seattle Grapples With Nationwide Money Shortage
While 1878 brought economic panic across the nation, Seattleites rejected the idea that their town was failing, pointing to local grit and coal-laden wharves as the true engines of progress.
- The Saloon Question in Olympia
Olympia's City Council moves to curb the prevalence of saloons through steep fee hikes, a move that the P-I suggests Seattle should replicate.
- The Morbid Crowds at the Morgue
A double murder-suicide sparks a frenzy of gawking in Seattle.
- The Colville Reservation Is Set to Be Broken Into Homesteads
A federal allotment plan would divide 1.3 million acres and assign parcels to about 2,452 Indians, opening the rest to settlement.
- The First Ward Fights Back
Citizens of Seattle's First Ward protest their diminished representation in the City Council, asserting their right to full political standing.
- Walla Walla's Growing Thirst
City officials begin enforcing strict sprinkling hours as a record-breaking rainfall deficiency threatens the local water supply.
- The Cost of Regrading Seattle
Helen Scurry fights the city for $25,000, claiming the lowering of Third Street destroyed the value of her property.
- The Hard Times Ball
Seattle's elite staged an 'economical' dance party to navigate the financial strain of 1893.
- The Republican Rally for John McGraw
A boisterous night of cheering and song at the First Regiment Armory as Republicans ratify their gubernatorial ticket.
- The Unfair Bounty of the Hood Canal
Local fishers lament that millions of salmon are being shipped away for canning, leaving the local community to profit nothing from their own waters.
- Night Watchman Shoots Intruder at West Seattle Elevator
A thief attempting to steal grain sacks from a West Seattle elevator was shot in the leg by a vigilant watchman and forced to surrender.
- The Shingle Trust Squeezes Workers
Facing falling profits, the Washington and Oregon Shingle Manufacturers Association mandates wage cuts and production limits.
- The Bureau's War on 'Prostitution and Concubinage'
The Superintendent of Indian Affairs in Olympia issues a directive banning relationships between white staff and Indigenous women.
- The Never-Ending Court House Legal War
A legal stalemate in Benton County leaves lawyers, litigants, and commissioners in a dizzying spiral of injunctions and contempt charges.
- The Fading Majesty of the British Crown
A 1885 editorial reflects on the diminishing power of the British monarchy, suggesting the institution may soon become a mere formality that the public outgrows.
- The Police Sweep Through Whitechapel
A massive police crack-down on the city's red-light district leads to crowded courtrooms and a battle over jury trials.
- The Final Trek of Michael Buckley
A frontier packer and pioneer who survived the rigors of the Idaho mines and the early Walla Walla valley succumbs to double pneumonia.
- The Great Kennewick Oil Rush
Speculators and geologists descend on the valley as local officials dream of transforming the region into a major manufacturing center.
- The Political Flip-Flop over the Lake Washington Canal
A scathing editorial exposes the hypocrisy of a Tacoma publisher using the canal project as a pawn in a larger Republican party feud.
- The Meteorology of the Woods
An 1880 meteorologist argues that deforestation is responsible for the drying of rivers and the loss of rainfall, a warning from the early days of Washington Territory.
- The Theater vs. The Saloon
A surprising social trend sees Walla Walla residents choosing stage entertainment over the local drinking houses.
- Washington's Shifting Demographics
State health officials report a slow decline in birth rates, while noting divergent trends across different racial communities.
- The Unbreakable Glass That Promised a Household Revolution
In 1877, a new chemical tempering process promised Seattle residents that lamp chimneys would never crack again—even if you drove nails with them.