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40 stories matching herewith
- A State Board Told Dentists to Sign Away Their Ads — One Seattle Man Refused
At the 1903 licensing exams in Tacoma, Washington's dental examiners demanded applicants sign a code-of-ethics contract before they could sit down. Edwin J. Brown of Seattle said no — and the whole profession waited to see whether he'd be barred from practice.
- Health Officer Forced Out by Political Squabble
Dr. George H. T. Sparling resigns as city health officer after relentless opposition from the Democratic city administration.
- The Great Seattle Building Boom of 1888
A meticulously logged list of nearly 1,500 structures built in a single year, revealing a city transforming from a frontier outpost into a bustling metropolis.
- The Mayor Vetoes a 25% Street Grade
Mayor J. T. Ronald rejects a city ordinance establishing a steep street grade, arguing that a practical road is vital to the city's working-class population.
- The Queen City’s Clean Bill of Health
Dr. L. Smith argues that Seattle’s location is its best sanitary defense, even as the city lacks a formal sewer system.
- The Milk Shed Built Over the Sewage
A Seattle weekly prints a photograph of the city's largest dairy depot — a ramshackle shed on pilings over the tide flats — and dares the health inspectors to explain why nothing is being done.
- The Mayor's War on 'Vice' at the Pavilion
Mayor J. T. Ronald refuses to license liquor sales at the Laurel Shade resort, citing its proximity to a cherished family park.
- The Mayor's Battle Against the Saloon
Mayor J. T. Ronald vetoes a retail liquor license, charging the council with 'gerrymandering' and favoring special interests over the well-being of residential neighborhoods and schools.
- The Search for the Girl Who Welcomed Villard
A photograph of a young woman who delivered a welcoming address at the university grounds is sought by the wife of Henry Villard, prompting a city-wide search.
- The Clumsy Forgery of a Political Appointment
Dr. Alfred N. Marion was amused to receive a fake appointment letter as deputy collector of customs, a prank aimed at Seattle's political circles.
- The Mayor's Veto: A Battle Over City Bonds
Mayor J. T. Ronald blocks a city council ordinance requiring a bond from a waterworks cashier, citing legal advice from the city's corporation counsel.
- The Fire Chief’s Final Warning
In a 1888 city report, Seattle’s outgoing fire chief slams the 'primitive' volunteer system and warns that the city's rapid growth has left it dangerously under-protected against disaster.
- The Mayor's Horse-Shoeing Standoff
Mayor J.T. Hall vetoes a city council plan to privatize municipal blacksmithing, citing the welfare of the city's horses.
- The Mayor vs. The Board
Mayor J.T. Ronald rejects a city ordinance, clashing with the Board of Public Works over who controls the schedule of the city's executive branch.
- Anacortes Mayor Quits in Protest Against 'Subsidy Brokers'
A.P. Sharpstein steps down, accusing the city's powerful corporate interests of stifling growth and ignoring the needs of local citizens.
- A Customs House Boss and the Fight to Run Washington
A federal deputy collector resigns in Seattle and accuses the custom house crowd of building a machine for Senator Squire.
- The Westside Railway Deal and the Councilman Who Didn't Read It
Olympia's council weighed a cheaper route through C. M. Moore's block to reach the Westside Railway—until one committeeman admitted he had signed the report blind.
- A Warning on Municipal Frenzied Finance
A concerned citizen calculates the cost of upcoming park bond proposals, arguing that Tacoma is dangerously over-leveraged.
- The Mayor's War on 'Black Chapel'
Mayor J. T. Ronald vetoes a saloon license in a notorious district, decrying the density of vice in a three-hundred-foot square.
- The Political Tax Revolt of 1885
In a scorched-earth letter to the editor, a Whatcom resident decries the rise of 'Knights of Labor' candidates, claiming their victory at the polls signaled a collapse of property values and fiscal responsibility.
- The Pioneer Who Never Gave Another Speech After Mt. Baker Erupted
N. V. Sheffer, Whatcom County’s oldest living pioneer, brought his donkey cart to Ferndale’s old-settlers’ reunion—and told why he stopped speaking in public in 1854.
- The Governor Vetoes Debtor Relief—and Warns It Would Speed Foreclosures
Gov. McGraw kills a bill meant to shield struggling debtors, arguing it cannot apply to existing contracts and may trigger the mortgage sales it was supposed to prevent.
- Two Governors, One Island, and a War Called Off by Letter
Gen. W. S. Harney writes to Queen Victoria's man at Victoria to explain why United States infantry are dug in on San Juan; Gov. James Douglas writes back hoping no 'collision' follows. The boundary quarrel that became the Pig War, in the principals' own words.
- 1,950 Farmers Tested Whether Washington Could Grow Its Own Sugar
A statewide experiment from Pullman found Washington soil and climate unusually suited to sugar beets—raising hopes that the state could someday manufacture all the sugar it consumed.
- The Washington–Idaho Line Was Never Quite Where Everyone Thought It Was
A congressional committee moving to re-mark the boundary publishes a surveyor general's confession: the 1873 line zigzagged as much as a degree and a half off course, was measured with link chains, and stopped short when the crew quit to save their own lives.