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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 11 |
| 1893 | 12 |
| 1894 | 15 |
| 1895 | 23 |
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| 1904 | 6 |
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| 1909 | 7 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 6 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1918 | 2 |
| 1924 | 2 |
140 stories matching gallon
- The Great Oil Puzzle: How Three Men Solved an Impossible Measure
A local grocer and two farmers spent a long afternoon cracking a mathematical riddle to split eight gallons of oil evenly using only three uneven containers.
- Seattle's 1895 Warning: Secure Cedar River Water Before Private Speculators Do
City Engineer R. H. Thomson says Seattle's overworked pumps cannot survive another summer and urges the city to buy the Cedar River watershed, dams and reservoir sites while it still can.
- The City That Refused to Drink: Seattle’s Water War of 1876
When the local water company demanded a quarter-century monopoly and the power to seize private springs, Seattle’s leaders said no. Now, with fire risks mounting and growth accelerating, the city faces a stark choice: build its own system or wait for disaster.
- The Year Seattle's Water Department Turned Off the Sprinklers
Superintendent Andrew Jackson's 1894 report found savings in fuel and salaries, a 15 percent rate cut, and a citywide crackdown on irrigation scofflaws—plus thirty households that had never been billed.
- Seattle’s Water Fight: Pumping Queen Anne or Building for the Future
As Seattle’s reservoirs strain, Superintendent Andrew Jackson argues that waste, not supply, is the problem—and that the city’s pumping system is only a stopgap until a Cedar River gravity plan can be built.
- Seattle's Watered-Milk Case Collapsed on a Question of Intent
An inspector found 10 to 12 gallons of water in a 46-gallon shipment, but Judge Glasgow acquitted the retailer because the ordinance did not require him to test every can.
- The Milkman's Watered-Down Secret
A leaked letter from a diary hand reveals how Seattle milk was being diluted with water to pad wages in 1892.
- The Deadbeats Who Were Stealing Seattle's Water
An 1895 water department report found the city pumping far more water per person than other cities—and a thriving traffic in illegal hookups, hidden leaks, and unpaid bills.
- The Dairy That Started With 20 Rented Cows and Ended Up With 2,560 Acres
Two Spokane entrepreneurs built Hazelwood Dairy on a promise that milk would be exactly as advertised—at a time when watered milk was the norm.
- Ballard Asked Seattle for a Drink—and Hinted at Annexation
In 1895 Ballard was running on wells and springs. Seattle had Lake Washington to spare, and officials began talking rates, mains, and a merged city.
- The Great Tacoma Water Heist
City leaders uncover a massive discrepancy in the city's newly purchased water plant after boosters inflated the daily flow of local springs.
- The Milkman’s Math: One Gallon of Water to Three of Milk
Seattle’s city chemist finds W. H. Putman’s milk watered by a fourth and urges the health board to publish the names of adulterators.
- The Herring Oil Boom on Puget Sound
A new industry turns Puget Sound's abundant herring and dogfish into a lucrative oil enterprise, promising a 'little fortune' for those early to the trade.
- The Motor Age Arrives in Kennewick
Gasoline and oil sales skyrocket as the local automobile population explodes, revealing a town transforming around the car.
- The Tacoma Waterworks Scandal
Citizens and the City Council expose a massive financial swindle involving a failing water plant purchase.
- The Water Under Walla Walla
As the city weighs Mill Creek against artesian wells, old-timers warn that riparian lawsuits could drown the project.
- Tacoma’s Costly Water Scandal
City officials discover that the expensive gravity-fed water system sold to the public is a fiction, sparking a search for accountability.
- Tacoma's Water Was Cut Off by a Court Order—and the City Went Looking for Wells
A judge holds Tacoma officials in contempt for ignoring an injunction over Clover and Spanaway creeks, forcing the city to shut off a major source and scramble for gulch water and Northern Pacific wells.
- The City's Private Water Pioneer
Before the city operated its own utility, one visionary resident sank a deep well on Ninth Street, betting his own fortune that he could out-pump the ground itself to supply a growing Seattle.
- Seattle's New Water System Takes Shape
An massive engineering project aims to transform city life with springs and eventually Lake Washington's deep reserves.
- The Five-Gallon Pickle Jar That Held Three, and Other Cheats of 1907
Washington's pure food commissioner reports that the milk of Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane is clean — but the packages on the shelf are not what they claim, and he wants the legislature to make him inspector of weights and measures too.
- The Arrival of Big Oil in Coulee City
A new $11,000 facility brings bulk gasoline storage to the region, promising cheaper prices and modern efficiency.
- Sweetening the Valley: A Wartime Suggestion
With sugar rations looming during the Great War, one local farmer suggests Kennewick turn to home-grown sorghum syrup.
- The City's High-Tech Gamble on the New Holly Pump
Seattle's municipal water works achieves a massive efficiency win with new equipment, proving the city's investment pays off.
- Lice Threaten the Hop and Apple Crop, and the State Says Spray Now
Washington's horticulture board warns that leaf lice are spreading fast in Western Washington and issues a detailed spraying recipe before the harvest is lost.
Also about this, in other words
- A 100,000-Gallon Tank for Seattle's Thirsty Hills
A reserve tank is about to come online for Capitol Hill and Broadway, while crews begin another on Queen Anne to end morning water shortages.
- A Private Boost for Seattle’s Water Supply
A new tank on Union Street signals the expansion of early, private water infrastructure in the growing city of Seattle.
- Gas Tank Explosion Wrecks Passenger Car
A train car was reduced to twisted wreckage near Puyallup by a high-pressure gas explosion; authorities believe it was fortunate the train was empty at the time.
- A Monster in the Mud
An unusually large sulphur bottom whale ends up stranded on the Olympia mudflats.
- A Gasser, a Picnic, and a Promise: Kennewick Bets on Oil and Gas
Drillers pause to case off 400 feet of water, 85 people picnic at the well, and a Yakima promoter promises a franchise — and maybe oil — by summer.
- A Mill, a Dam and 200,000 Yards of Dirt: Ione’s Building Boom
Work has begun in earnest on the big mill, with a dinkey railroad, steam shovel and teams moving earth for the foundation, dam and lumber yards.
- The Drunken Sea Lion of Olympia
An intoxicated 800-pound sea lion is captured after a bender on crude oil.
- An Angler's Surprise in Lake Union
A six-pound blue catfish is landed, sparking debates about the ecological impact of non-native species introduced by state commissioners.