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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 8 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
19 stories matching exquisit
- Tacoma's Rose Carnival Floats Dazzle Thousands
A floral procession of 'fairest daughters' and decorated chariots marched through downtown Tacoma to honor the Queen of the Carnival.
- The Price of Elegance in 1883
A look at the luxury fabrics and household goods enticing early Seattleites at the Golden Rule Bazaar.
- Two Miles Perched on the Lower Circle of a Rainbow
A Shelton legislator's private letter describing a steamer passage up Hammersley's Inlet becomes the best prose in the paper — a circle of prismatic color, starfish, glaciers and one awestruck captain.
- The Promised Heights of West Seattle
A booster-era description of a neighborhood rising above the clouds, promising a future of wharves, factories, and mountain views.
- The Secret Millionaire of West Seattle
How a San Francisco journal saw the promise of Seattle’s 'West End' before the city was fully grown.
- The Real Estate Pitch That Conquered West Seattle
A booster-era advertisement uses high-flown, flowery prose to compare the views of West Seattle to the Swiss Alps, aiming to sell lots in a burgeoning new neighborhood.
- The Palace on the Hill: A Glimpse into Seattle’s Victorian Splendor
A rare 1885 look inside the 'stately' McNaught residence, a mansion built to impress at Third and Marion.
- The Real Estate Boom of the 'West End'
Developers pitch the sweeping vistas of West Seattle as the city's future crowning jewel, borrowing praise from a San Francisco journal to lure investors.
- The Annual Migration to the Puyallup Valley
A historic snapshot of the diverse, bustling encampments that formed every autumn when the hop harvest drew thousands to the riverbanks.
- The Boom That Built Bellingham: How Four Towns Merged Into One City
In the spring of 1904, the bustling communities of Sehome, Whatcom, Fairhaven, and Bellingham were rapidly converging. With housing prices soaring and carpenters working day and night, this historic merger created the city we know today.
- The Unfiltered Delight of an 1885 North Cascades Trek
Before the North Cascades were fully mapped, a party of thirty-three Seattleites scrambled up a peak near the Nooksack River for a view that they hoped would 'soon' become a national treasure.
- The Last Great Gush: West Seattle’s Promoters Promise Paradise on the Edge of the Sound
In February 1889, real estate agents and newspaper editors were busy selling a dream of West Seattle, touting its majestic views of Mount Rainier and promising that the new railroad would turn this rugged plateau into the next gold rush for land speculators.
- The Centennial That Saved Seattle: How 8,000 Souls Turned a Territorial Mist into a City
On July 4, 1876, despite being late to statehood and lacking federal funding, Seattle’s pioneers pulled off a spectacle of flags, steamers, and speeches that proved the town was here to stay.
- The Woman’s Club Banquet That Defined Olympia’s Elite
Six years after its founding, the city's most prominent ladies gathered for a 'horseshoe' dinner and silhouette presentation to celebrate their social influence.
- When Seattle Draped Its Church in Flags for the Union Dead
In 1895, veterans packed First Methodist at Third and Marion for an elaborate Memorial Sunday sermon, with stacked rifles, roses, palms and a choir.
- The Ball That Shook Seattle: A Night of Masks, Money, and 'Transposed Sexes'
In the damp cold of February 1877, Seattle’s elite gathered for a masquerade ball that defied social norms, featuring cross-dressing performers and a prize for the 'best sustained character'—a rare glimpse into the territory's vibrant, chaotic social life.
- A Polish Rancher in Muddy Boots Sits Down at the Piano and Steals the Show
Two hundred people in fancy dress fill the Olympia Theater to raise $83.75 for a Sherman Valley schoolhouse — with the lieutenant governor on fiddle, the mayor managing, and the sage of the valley in blue overalls at the keyboard.
- A City Turned Out to Bury George Heilbron
In 1895, Seattle’s governor, mayor, judges, businessmen and laborers filled the First Unitarian Church for the funeral of a civic leader who had helped build the young city.
- The Moss-Cloaked Giants of Bay Center
A teacher’s letter from the Pacific Northwest frontier describes a landscape of colossal trees and lush undergrowth, challenging the myth of the harsh pioneer struggle.