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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
40 stories matching foothold
- Seattle's Streets Were Made of Wood. The Fight to Pave Them Was On.
A City Council vote for brick on Pike Street signaled the end of makeshift plank roads—if Seattle could stomach the first cost.
- The Shadow of 1885 Lingers in Tacoma
Twenty years after the forced expulsion of the city's Chinese population, rumors of new arrivals trigger threats of vigilante action.
- Snohomish Farmers Mobilize Against Japanese Land Leases
The Snohomish County Grange pledges to stop leasing agricultural land to Japanese and Chinese farmers, signaling a rising wave of exclusionary organization.
- The Boomtown Hype of 1888
A real estate advertisement masquerading as news paints a picture of a city on the precipice of industrial greatness, promising that Seattle will soon become the 'Queen City of the Pacific.'
- The Expulsion Continues
A group of Chinese travelers is forcibly escorted out of Tacoma by local longshoremen, confirming the city's rigid policy of exclusion.
- The Cedar River Siege: How a Power Mogul Tried to Steal Seattle’s Water
Seattle Star exposes the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company’s dirty game: using fake environmental panic to block municipal water rights and crush competition.
- The Power Struggle for Seattle’s Future
As the city council investigates the Cedar River water rights dispute, a fierce corporate war erupts between the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company and the Union Electric Company, threatening to monopolize the region's energy supply.
- Six Men Climbed a Smoking Rainier in Midwinter
When Mount Rainier seemed to erupt in 1894, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer sent Maj. E. S. Ingraham and five companions up the Carbon River in deep winter to find out what was really happening.
- The 'Curse' of the Chinese: How Seattle's Elite Tried to Buy Their Way Out of Racism
In May 1882, a local editorial argued that property owners should refuse to rent or sell land to Chinese immigrants, claiming they were bad tenants and a financial drain on the city.
- The Gas Monopoly and the Hunt Administration
A political war over city franchises and utility prices threatens to lock Walla Walla into a high-cost energy future.
- The Forgotten Iron Gorge of the Cascades
A survey of the remote Denny mining claims near Snoqualmie Pass reveals a rugged, dangerous 'wonder land' of hidden mineral wealth.
- The Catholic Surge: How a Small Rented Room Became Seattle’s Most Valuable Religious Institution
In 1882, the Post-Intelligencer takes aim at the rapid expansion of the Catholic Church in Seattle, contrasting its booming wealth and new construction with the stagnation of Protestant denominations.
- The Night They Slept in Rainier's Ice Caves
A Seattle climbing party returns from Mount Rainier after a storm-bound night in the summit ice caves—and Tacoma greets them like a circus.
- The Hop Louse War in the Yakima Valley
As the Yakima hop industry matures, growers face a new, permanent agricultural battle against the hop vine aphis.
- The Fight for the Stevens County Magnesite Market
Local miners face renewed economic uncertainty as Austrian firms petition for a sharp reduction in import tariffs, threatening the fragile recovery of the regional mineral industry.
- A Push for Independent Telephone Lines to Vashon Island
An independent operator seeks a foothold in Tacoma to break the grip of existing monopolies.
- Seattle Shuts Down Travel to Stop Smallpox
Facing a growing smallpox outbreak in Victoria, B.C., Seattle health officials move to seal off the city's maritime commerce.
- The Racialized Panic Over Real Estate
A reprint from the San Francisco Chronicle warns Seattle property owners against renting to the Chinese, using inflammatory rhetoric about declining property values.
- The Free Real Estate Gamble of 1876
Facing a housing crunch, a prominent developer offers free land to anyone willing to build—a desperate move to spur growth in North Seattle.
- The Dream of Palatine: 1888 Real Estate Hype in Seattle
A sprawling advertisement for a 'suburban' development in the Salmon Bay area reveals how developers promised working-class families a foothold in the rapidly industrializing north Seattle.
- The Tragedy of a Sailor’s Train-Hopping Gamble
A penniless traveler, desperate to reach San Francisco, attempts to ride a moving freight train through the Washington wilderness—with fatal consequences.
- A Deadly Shift in the Great Northern Yards
A newly hired switchman dies after slipping under the wheels of an engine in Spokane, leaving behind a grieving family.
- The Case for a Labor Temple
General Organizer M. Grant Hamilton argues that organized labor should build permanent headquarters to serve as meeting halls, reading rooms, and beacons of civic influence.
- The War Against the Russian Thistle
Walla Walla County officials launch an aggressive campaign to eradicate the invasive Russian Thistle before it chokes local wheat fields.
- The Persistent Threat of the Louisiana Lottery
Despite legislative victories and public condemnation, the infamous Louisiana Lottery scheme attempts to relocate its base of operations to Honduras to exploit U.S. citizens.
Also about this, in other words
- A Perilous Ascent on Front Street
A construction worker suffers a violent fall while building a new home, sparking a community health scare in 1870s Seattle.
- The Fight for the Future of Washington's Soil
An 1877 editorial warns against the 'monster evil' of land monopoly, arguing that preventing a feudal system of landlord-tenant reliance is the only way to ensure the new state's future liberties.
- The $5,400 Handshake
A state land commissioner faces a Supreme Court battle over whether he can bypass a high-dollar bid for school lands in favor of a personal deal.
- The Great Sidewalk Standoff of 1892
A Seattle clothier brandished a revolver and a trowel in a public skirmish over basement access, highlighting the messy street-level power struggles of early downtown Seattle.
- Death on the Wire: The Perilous Walk of Snohomish’s Bridge Builders
While politicians scheme in safe offices, local workers are laying footbridges over the Skykomish River at dizzying heights, performing a feat described as 'the most dangerous part of the grand work.'
- The Seven-Foot Drop: A Property Dispute
A Tacoma couple fights back after county street grading leaves their home sitting high above the new road level.
- The Deadly Cost of Progress on County Projects
Working 85 feet above the ground with pile drivers, Everett laborers face life-threatening conditions daily.
- The Real Estate Handshake: A Forgotten Legal Precedent
An 1889 court ruling from Kansas reverberated in Seattle, forcing a change in how developers and land brokers accounted for profits.