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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
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| 1876 | 66 |
| 1877 | 33 |
| 1878 | 35 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 14 |
| 1882 | 12 |
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938 stories matching half
- Seattle Loses by Half a Length—and Wins the Lake
In August 1894, Seattle's first amateur regatta drew crowds to the Madison Street shore of Lake Washington for a four-oared thriller against Portland and Burrard Inlet. The home crew lost by less than half a length, but set a course record and gave the young city a new civic stage.
- A Creameryman Confesses: 'Our Business Conditions Are Rotten'
In an unusually candid letter to The Ranch, the manager of the Rockwood Creamery Co. says reckless price-cutting and smooth-talking rivals are cheating Washington dairy farmers and quietly ruining the state's butter.
- Seattle's Bid to Be the Liverpool of America
In 1895, boosters imagined a Lake Washington ship canal turning Puget Sound into a freshwater harbor for world commerce, coal trade, and naval power.
- The Day Burrard Inlet Rowed Away With Lake Washington
At the first amateur regatta ever held on Lake Washington, British Columbia crews dominated the junior fours and senior singles while Seattle prepared for its turn on the water.
- The Lake Washington Land Fight That Turned on a Cabin, a Railroad Claim, and 'Crazy' Miller
A decade-long homestead contest ends with William L. Miller keeping first claim—if he or his guardian can prove it within 90 days. His rival says the cabin was never really a home.
- The Great Statehood Gamble: How Washington Territory Bet Its Future on a Coin Flip
In February 1889, Congress passed the 'Omnibus Bill' granting statehood to four territories simultaneously. For Seattle and Tacoma, this wasn't just political news—it was a high-stakes gamble that would determine their city limits, tax structures, and place in history.
- Under Fire on the Way to Spokane: Seattle's Militia Rode Into a Rail War
Col. Joseph Green's detachment returns from Spokane after escorting a mutinied company through burned bridges, ambushes and striker country—and the city turns out to cheer.
- The Night a Streetcar Powerhouse Fire Left Half of Seattle Dark
A pre-dawn blaze at Fifth and Pine gutted the Consolidated Street Railway plant, destroyed nearly all its cars and dynamos, crippled three lines, and blacked out everything north of Pike Street.
- The Property Battle for Old Seattle
A lawyer and property claimant fight to secure titles to a sprawling Seattle donation land claim amidst territorial legal confusion.
- Tax Delay Threatens Seattle's First Great Paving Program
A new revenue law lets property owners postpone half their taxes until November, and the road fund is so short that the city may stop accepting new street-improvement petitions.
- The Canal That Would Make Seattle an Island
In 1883, surveyors proposed locks and canals linking Lake Union and Lake Washington to tidewater—so coal could move by water and Seattle could 'practically stand on an island.'
- Seattle Raises a Half-Million to Cut a Canal to the Sea
In a dreary year, the Queen City's newsboys, millionaires and merchants finished a voluntary $500,000 subsidy for the Lake Washington ship canal—proof, admirers said, that Seattle could fight its own battles and win.
- Seattle Raises Half a Million Dollars for the Lake Washington Canal
Washington's small-town papers marvel as Seattle's wealthy close a $500,000 subscription for the canal — and call it the secret of the city's relentless rise.
- The Price of Frontier Survival: A Seattle Sheriff's Sale
A 1878 legal notice reveals a bleak snapshot of life in early Seattle, where debt-ridden families faced the auction block under the gaze of a booming young city.
- A Ticket Muddle for the Militia
A breakdown in communication leaves local militiamen feeling spurned at the ballpark gates.
- The Chief's Daughter in the Shadow of the City Named for Her Father
A San Francisco Chronicle correspondent visits Princess Angeline in her Seattle shack and finds the city proudly carving her father's face on a new business block while his daughter lives on charity.
- The Heat That Broke the Girls: A Seattle Summer of Hysteria
In June 1902, a sweltering afternoon in downtown Seattle turned a garment factory into a scene of mass panic as workers collapsed from heat prostration.
- The Half Moon Bridge Collapse: A Family's Carriage Plunges into the Willapa River
A routine crossing turned to disaster when the Half Moon bridge near Lebam gave way, injuring six people and killing a horse.
- 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.
- The Day the Seattle Gold Lottery Fell Apart
A grand public spectacle at Occidental Square took a sour turn when organizers confessed they had sold only half the tickets, forcing a desperate, on-the-spot slashing of prize money.
- The Swindle of the Polk County Farm
A Seattle man alleges his business partners orchestrated a complex real estate scheme to defraud him.
- Jim Hill’s Kanopolis Bluff: A Railway Empire in the Making
Great Northern President James J. Hill is quietly surveying a route through the Kanopolis Valley, sparking rumors that he intends to build up the area into a major hub rather than just passing through.
- The Pioneer Developer Building the Future of Downtown Seattle
As Seattle grapples with rapid growth and a critical shortage of hotels for visiting businessmen, pioneer Dexter Horton announces a major new business block on Cherry Street.
- She Worked for Half; He Kept the Deed
Phoebe Bovee says she spent years supporting Samuel McClure on a promise to share whatever they built. When he took title to a $2,600 King County property alone, she went to court.
- Beacon Hill's Streetcar Gap: Children Walk Miles While the Company Stalls
Residents petition the aldermen to force the Union Trunk Line to run cars to its promised terminus.
Also about this, in other words
- The Mirror in the Half-Dollar: A Gambling Cheat's Downfall
A man arrested for theft in Seattle was found carrying a doctored coin designed to help him win at cards.
- Seattle's First Real Street Paving
A specimen half-block is laid on Commercial Street as a test to end the era of plank roads and mud.
- The Half-Finished Skeleton on Second and University
After contractors were left hanging without payment, a court orders a developer to pay over $8,000 for a four-story building that never rose past the first floor.
- Seattle’s Half-Million Dollar Federal Windfall
Senator Squire secures a unanimous committee recommendation for a $500,000 federal building in Seattle, citing the city's explosive growth and soaring customs receipts.