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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1879 | 1 |
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26 stories matching elma
- The Great Elma Bank Heist: Fire as a Distraction
Seven masked bandits robbed the Elma bank of $3,500 on Saturday night, using a strategically timed arson attack on the local school gymnasium to draw police and citizens away from the scene.
- The Elma Iron Rush
Local prospectors are convinced they have struck it rich in the hills east of Elma, filing claims for iron deposits by the wholesale.
- The Battle for Elma’s Foundations
A massive legal challenge threatens the property titles of hundreds of residents in a Grays Harbor town.
- The Heaviest Rain Ever Recorded Swamped Grays Harbor and Stranded the Trains
3.27 inches in twenty-four hours, a sixty-hour gale, and washouts from Elma to Ocosta: the November 1892 storm cut every rail line into Aberdeen and left the Wynooche out of its banks.
- The Public Elopement of Elma
A husband in Elma negotiates a bizarre separation settlement that includes the contents of the house.
- Elma’s Mill Burned at Dinner Hour—and Nothing Was Insured
A noon-hour fire destroyed the John L. Hill saw and shingle mill in Elma, consuming 800,000 shingles and 50,000 feet of finished lumber while the crew ate dinner.
- Hotel Owners Sue for False Arrest
Two Aberdeen hoteliers demand $30,000 after being handcuffed in public for a bank robbery they did not commit.
- Explosion Injures Four Children Playing with Gunpowder
A tragic accident in Elma highlights the hidden dangers in household heating appliances during the early 1900s.
- The Gold Rush Hits Grays Harbor
Prospecting fever reached Aberdeen and Elma as locals claimed new iron and gold strikes near local schools and riverbeds.
- The Narrow Escape of the Elma Hotel
A stove long left unused nearly claimed the town's hotel when it was fired up once too often.
- The Mail Must Go Through: Seattle’s First Post Roads
In June 1876, Congress carved the first official postal arteries through Washington Territory, linking the fledgling town of Seattle to Snohomish, Tacoma, and the coal mines that would fuel its growth.
- Mill Workers Resist Bank Seizure
When bankers attempted to seize a safe from a shuttered Aberdeen mill, furious workers threatened to 'lick any man' who tried to stop the operation.
- The Tragedy on Long Prairie
A haunting account of a family destroyed by poverty and mental health crises, reminding us of the human cost lurking behind the pioneer narrative.
- The Tragedy on the Quinault
A ranching partnership ends in a fatal, accidental shooting in the remote wilderness.
- The Shack on A Street: A Mother’s Defiance Against the County Physician
Mrs. McGinnis of Tacoma refuses to let her afflicted child be taken to a hospital, insisting she can care for him better than doctors while living in poverty with four other sick children.
- The Swing Chorus: How Seattle’s Elite Turned a Concert into a Tropical Fantasy
At Frye’s Opera House in 1903, the Harmony Club staged a bizarre and beautiful musical revue featuring twenty-six young women swinging on hammocks and teeter-totters, proving that Seattle society was ready for something new.
- The Great County Road Grift
A skeptical resident argues that the proposed county road bond is a pork-barrel scheme that ignores the actual needs of the region's infrastructure.
- Chehalis County Hits the Debt Ceiling
Facing a constitutional limit on borrowing, county officials call for a public caucus to decide the region's financial future.
- The Temperance Movement Gains Steam in Grays Harbor
Prohibitionists gather in Montesano to organize for the upcoming election, signaling a growing political shift across the county.
- The Price of Progress: Aberdeen’s 1890 Infrastructure Bond
Facing a massive backlog of bridge repairs and road construction, Chehalis County commissioners move to tax residents for a sweeping modernization plan.
- A Terrifying Buggy Ride in Elma
A quiet Sunday excursion turned into a medical emergency when a runaway horse left a local man severely injured.
- How Our Towns Got Their Names
A historian chronicles the origins of Grays Harbor cities, uncovering the rivalries and local legends behind our map.
- The Silver Dollar Crusade: Seattle’s Local Echo of a National Money War
While the nation debates bimetallism and Indian Wars, Washington Territory officials in Seattle are quietly preparing for a federal commission that could reshape the region's economy.
- The Hardscrabble Frontier of the Stillaguamish
A detailed 1879 survey of the Stillaguamish River valley reveals a diverse community of pioneers, Prussian soldiers, and dreamers attempting to tame the wilderness of the upper valley.
- The Realities of a Frontier Childhood
A playful rivalry between two young boys in Elma takes a gruesome turn, highlighting the rough-and-tumble nature of early Chehalis County life.
Also about this, in other words
- Grandma Fea Crossed an Ocean, a Yellow Fever Epidemic and a Sawmill Explosion to Die at 94 in Newport
Ann Liddle Fea, the Scotch widow who arrived with the Great Northern and became the town's beloved 'Grandma,' was buried from her daughter's house on May 20 — leaving 23 grandchildren, 29 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren behind her.
- The Artful Grifter of Walla Walla
A young woman posing as a disabled orphan solicited funds from sympathetic merchants, leaving local business owners feeling duped.
- The Political Brawl at Ellensburgh
An explosive exchange between democratic rivals during the state convention reveals the messy, money-fueled nature of territorial politics.
- A New Bank Opens on East Main
Local business leader J.L. Elam expands his empire with a new private banking institution.