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46 stories matching filth
- The Great Seattle Street-Cleaning Decree
A desperate 1888 city ordinance threatens property owners with fines if they fail to scrub the filth from their sidewalk frontages.
- A Neighborhood's Battle Against Filth
Tacoma residents at 11th and Sprague demand city action to clear stagnant wells and sloughs breeding typhoid.
- The Great Seattle Scrub-Down
Facing a growing crisis of 'filth, dirt and garbage,' the City of Seattle threatens strict enforcement of sanitation ordinances to clean up the heart of downtown.
- Harbor Master Knocked Into the Filth
A workplace accident on the waterfront sends a city official plunging into the sewer outlet after being struck by a runaway wagon.
- The Street-Level Cost of Filth
A local observer decries the sanitary conditions of Seattle's waterfront and argues that private enterprise requires public hygiene.
- The Forgotten Souls of the County Poor Farm
A rare, unflinching account of the grim conditions inside Seattle’s makeshift county asylum, where the elderly and infirm were left to languish on hard wooden planks.
- The City's Filthy Milk Supply
An investigation by The Times reveals local dairies are operating in squalid conditions that physicians link to sickness among city children.
- The Filth on Ritzville's Back Streets
A stern warning to city officials and residents that neglected alleys are brewing a public health crisis for the summer months.
- The Great Sewer Standoff of 1889
For twelve months, Seattle leaders have talked, debated, and planned a modern sewerage system—while the city’s backyards and alleys continue to breed disease.
- The Sanitary Crisis of 1885
Dr. J. M. W. Hedges demands immediate action on open cesspools, raw sewage, and the 'lodging house' filth threatening the health of early Seattle.
- The Shame of Seattle's City Jail
A grand jury investigation into Seattle’s penal system reveals a crumbling facility plagued by filth, corruption, and the disappearance of evidence.
- The Tragic Passing of Nettie Dinsmore
A beloved Seattle teacher succumbs to typhoid fever, revealing a grim public health warning for the city.
- The Unfiltered Reality of Tacoma’s Water
An exposé reveals that the city's water supply flume runs through backyards and cesspools, gathering filth before reaching the tap.
- City Moves to Protect Water from Clover Creek Pollution
Public Works Commissioner Clark orders the removal of privies and manure heaps threatening Tacoma's water supply.
- Snohomish County's Boom and Growing Pains
As the region experiences rapid growth and infrastructure expansion, residents face a critical need for modern sanitation.
- The Hidden Killer in Tacoma's West End
A local health inspector finds a dairy operating in conditions 'too filthy for belief,' threatening a typhoid epidemic for families across the district.
- The Town Council Declares War on Filth
A sweeping new health ordinance outlaws backyard pigsties, mandates watertight privy vaults, and grants city officials the power to condemn contaminated wells.
- The Perils of 'Fantastic' Street Engineering
Complaints emerge regarding city contractors creating basins and trenches that trap water, creating eyesores and potential health hazards.
- An Investigation into the Filth at Clover Creek
A reporter takes a trip to the Parkland outskirts to document the raw sewage, pigsties, and animal waste contaminating the city's water source.
- The Tragedy of the McDonald Family
A destitute family in Colfax is dismantled by the courts after years of poverty, illness, and local infamy.
- City Council Awards Commissioner Pay Raise While Denying Health Workers
While Commissioner McGregor received a 50% salary increase without requesting it, the council flatly refused to increase the meager $60 monthly pay for sanitary inspectors working in hazardous conditions.
- 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 Great Scrubdown of 1888
Seattle’s new police chief takes a hose to the city jail, sweeping away years of filth and notoriety.
- The Shadow Over Seattle's Early Growth
A vitriolic 1881 congressional speech from Thomas H. Brents reveals the dark, exclusionary labor politics that defined the foundations of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Typhoid Traps of Third and Jackson
Public health investigators uncover a squalid, overcrowded lodging house where laborers were left to suffer in squalor, exposing the dark underside of Seattle's rapid expansion.
Also about this, in other words
- A Sanitary Sermon for Kennewick
City Health Officer F.M. Crosby issues a biblical-style list of ten ordinances to combat filth and disease.
- The Muck in Our Pipes
A two-day investigation reveals that Tacoma’s municipal water supply, sourced from Clover Creek, is contaminated by livestock waste and agricultural runoff.
- The Price of a Filthy City
In 1877, Seattle editors warned that stagnant water and neglected gutters were more than just a nuisance—they were a matter of life and death.