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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1892 | 5 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 4 |
23 stories matching gratuit
- A Night at the Hall Ruined by Rowdyism
A gratuitous public entertainment in Seattle is brought to an abrupt and disorderly end by an unruly crowd, leaving the organizer out of pocket.
- The Midnight Death of Seattle’s Charter
When a judge declared the city’s incorporation invalid in 1877, the local newspaper editor went on the warpath to save the municipality from 'gratuitous anarchy.'
- 'Free' Printing, $176 Later: Seattle's County Contract Scandal of 1877
The Dispatch accuses the Intelligencer of taking public money after bidding to do the county's printing for nothing—and demands the next contract be opened to honest bids.
- Lake Washington Canal Becomes a Party Platform Issue
Both Republicans and Democrats fight over a proposed ship canal to connect Puget Sound to Lake Washington, turning the infrastructure project into a central campaign issue.
- The Political Battle Over the Lake Washington Ship Canal
Both parties are fighting over the proposed ship canal, with Republican and Democratic platforms diverging sharply on the project's viability.
- The Fight for Washington’s Capital
The constitutional convention’s attempt to prematurely cement Olympia as the capital sparks outrage.
- A Holiday Feast for a Thousand Children
Tacoma businessman A.V. Fawcett hosts a massive banquet for children in need at the city's exposition building.
- A Widow, Two Children, and a Town That Passed the Hat
When Mrs. H. P. Fox arrived in Spokane Falls to find her husband dead of an accidental gunshot, strangers raised money for his burial and her passage home to South Carolina.
- The Rapid Rise of Ballard's Schools
How a small timber town's student population exploded, leading to a controversial new policy on married teachers.
- The Real Estate Boom of 1890
A booster’s pitch for West Seattle highlights the city's turn-of-the-century obsession with land development and panoramic vistas.
- Left Stranded: Discharged Railroad Workers Occupy Train
When a railway company abandoned its discharged laborers without transport in Colfax, the men staged a peaceful occupation of a train to demand passage home.
- The Seattle-Walla Walla Rail Ambition
An 1877 editorial proposes leveraging global capital gluts to fund the critical narrow-gauge railway connection, a lifeline for the territory's economic future.
- The Midnight Purge at City Hall
Mayor Ronald’s summary dismissal of Police Chief Bolton Rogers ignites a firestorm in Seattle, as critics warn that the city’s charter is being subverted by a 'capricious' executive.
- Puget Sound Herring Fisheries Need Capital and Experience
A local editor argues that Seattle’s budding herring industry is destined to become a global titan—if only local businessmen would stop throwing away the fertilizer.
- 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 Seattle Correspondent’s Gaze on China
A disorienting, 1877 report from a Seattle newspaper explores the rigid social hierarchies and gender dynamics of the Qing Dynasty through a lens of Victorian fascination.
- The Unwritten Laws of Seattle’s Press
When a local paper targeted young women in its columns for 'assuming social superiority' at a dance, a vigilante citizen took matters into his own hands.
- 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.
- Starvation Wages and a Broken Light Contract: Seattle's Lower House Erupts
Delegates demand answers on Pike Street paving, city jobs parceled out by foremen, Kilbourne Avenue subcontracting, and the gas-electric company's failure to light the city.
- The City Against the Light Company
A judge threatens Tacoma's public works board with contempt as the city and a private electric company go to war over rates — and a newspaper editor with his own private electrical plant gets called out in the process.
- Seattle Tried to Garden Its Way Out of Unemployment
At a Chamber of Commerce meeting, civic leaders pledged vacant land, tools and seed so jobless families could grow vegetables through the winter, borrowing a relief plan from Detroit.
- A Hospital for the Poor, Not the Pauper House: Seattle General Prepares to Open
The Seattle General Hospital will open June 15 in the leased Avon house on Front Street, offering free treatment to the needy and a training school for nurses—backed by a women's auxiliary that has already raised funds through lunchrooms.
- A Flag Over the Sick: Seattle's First General Hospital Opens Its Doors
A three-story wooden building on Front Street becomes a nonsectarian refuge for the poor and paying alike — raised by a woman's persistence and a city's donations, and dedicated under the Stars and Stripes.