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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 13 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 11 |
| 1895 | 10 |
| 1903 | 6 |
| 1904 | 8 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 10 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1919 | 1 |
103 stories matching drainag
- The Price of Neglect: Seattle's 1877 Health Crisis
As diphtheria sweeps through a growing Seattle, an 1877 editorial warns that city-wide sanitation failures and individual negligence are turning the climate's natural health into a breeding ground for disease.
- A Jury Walks the Ditches: Chewelah’s Drainage War Ends
After weeks of testimony and a field inspection, a jury ruled that draining the Colville Valley would harm no one—clearing the way for the Chewelah district and weakening objections elsewhere.
- Seattle’s Looming Epidemic
Facing a potential outbreak of cholera, the city council debates the urgent need for drainage and cleaning up the ‘rank smelling’ slums of Seattle in 1885.
- The Sunnyside Canal's New Problem Was Too Much Water
Farmers who once feared the canal could never water the whole valley are now drowning in seepage — so a private company has been chartered to drain the land before the state district can get its paperwork done.
- Olympia Bought a $1,500 Sewer Map Critics Called Worthless
A letter to the editor accuses the city council of buying a stranger's sewer plan without scrutiny—complete with a harbor reservoir already condemned in San Diego.
- The City’s Dirty Secret: A Plea for Seattle’s Health
In 1870, a local editorial warns that Seattle’s lack of sewage infrastructure is poisoning the community with disease, urging citizens to prioritize public health over fiscal caution.
- Old Drainage Debt Forces Public Hearing
A legacy of unpaid warrants from the Haxton Drainage district leads to a court-ordered assessment on local landowners.
- A Valley Drowns Every Spring—and One Farmer Wants a Better Dike
A correspondent warns that the Pend Oreille freshet has wrecked $50,000 worth of Calispel Valley crops—and argues the proposed diking districts are too piecemeal to save the basin.
- Newport's Cesspool Crisis Made a Sewer System the Town's Biggest Need
With refuse in the streets and an epidemic feared, the Newport Miner backed a bond-financed sewerage plan in 1909.
- White River Farmers Resist City's Drainage Plan
Farmers in the White River Valley rejected a proposed drainage ditch, arguing the city should subsidize the cost for its own water benefit.
- Masterminding the Sammamish Valley
Property owners petitioned county commissioners to form a drainage district, hoping to transform miles of 'sluggish' swamp into productive farmland.
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.
- The Farmer Who Drowned a Valley
A drainage project meant to reclaim marshland turns a peaceful river into a recurring disaster zone for downstream farmers.
- The Stinking Gutters of 1876
While Seattle promoters bragged of a salubrious climate, a local newspaper editorial exposed the reality of deadly, stagnant cesspools lining the streets.
- Fisticuffs at City Hall
A drainage ditch dispute erupts into a physical brawl between two men in the county commissioners' corridor.
- The White River Ditch Stalls
A landmark court decision strikes down the drainage assessment law, leaving farmers and property owners in limbo.
- 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.
- The City’s Stinking Secret
In 1888, Seattle's growing pains were literally surfacing on the beach as inadequate sewers turned the bay into an open dumping ground.
- The 'Sawdust Swamp': A Public Health Warning for Seattle
A century and a half ago, the Intelligencer warned that Seattle's lack of proper drainage was not just a civic embarrassment, but a lethal threat to the growing population.
- The Quest for a Clean City
A proposed 'Liernur System' could turn Seattle's sewage into marketable fertilizer while solving a desperate public health crisis.
- The Farmers' Valley Canal
A coalition of valley landowners and city officials meet to debate the funding and construction of a massive drainage canal.
- The Rising Groundwater Threat
A federal drainage expert warns that Kennewick's porous soil is becoming waterlogged by irrigation, creating a public health crisis.
- The Ten-Foot Map That Would Sewer Olympia
In 1891, an engineer drew a room-sized map and planned a drainage system for a city of 20,000—if the council could get around the Seventh Street tunnel.
- Draining the Squak Slough
A proposal for drainage work in the valley promises agricultural prosperity and potential water access for Seattle.
- South Tacoma’s Quest for Clean Water
City officials prepare to test new artesian wells, aiming to replace a water supply plagued by 'foul drainage' and contamination.
Also about this, in other words
- The Unending Drain at Columbia Street
A classic city mistake in 1886: an improperly built drain leads to a massive, costly wash-out that requires days of manual labor to repair.
- The Drain Detectives
A warning to tenants: sewer gas is a hidden killer, and your landlord’s thrift might be costing you your health.