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1. The Unruly Bleachers of Madison Street

   A Seattle fan calls for an end to the jeering, hissing, and systematic roasting of players that has plagued local baseball games.

   Jul 16, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMadison Street, Seattle, King CountyNightlife

2. The First Ward Has Not Yet Voted: A Rowdy King County Convention Picks Its Ticket

   In 1894, King County Republicans packed Seattle’s Armory, fought over a contested First Ward delegation, hissed down rivals, and nominated a full county ticket in one raucous night.

   Sep 5, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Armory, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall

3. The Rowdy Pierce County Democratic Convention

   Boos, hisses, and shouts of 'Rats' define a chaotic convention as local Democrats revolt against a fusion plan with the People's Party.

   Oct 7, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

4. A Preacher Was Hissed for Defending Seattle’s Catholics

   At a packed American Protective Association meeting, Rev. Clark Davis called for tolerance and warned that bigotry would fail — then heard jeers from members who wanted red meat.

   Mar 25, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

5. Cheers, Hisses and a Canal: The Night Tacoma Cheered the Ditch It Was Told Would Ruin It

   At a packed Republican mass-meeting in Germania Hall, speaker after speaker dared the crowd to believe the Lake Washington canal would destroy Tacoma — and the crowd roared back that it would not.

   Aug 27, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

6. A Gas Well Roars to Life in the Sagebrush — and Yakima Comes to Watch

   Sixty North Yakima men drove out to a wildcat well 14 miles north of Benton City, where escaping gas hissed like a locomotive, then lit into a 20-foot tower of flame — and raised fresh hopes of oil under the desert. Spoiler: the gas wasn't there in commercial quantities yet.

   Jun 10, 1915The Kennewick Courier-ReporterBenton City, Benton CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

7. The Night a Bullet Whistled Through the Vice President’s Window

   A brush with political assassination in Seattle's past—revealed only after the danger had passed.

   Jul 29, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

8. The Scandal at St. Mary’s

   A Seattle Episcopal rector faces a congregation-led revolt after rumors of 'immoral practices' turn an ordinary service into a chaotic public showdown.

   Jul 22, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

9. The Seattle School Board Executes the High School

   A legal dispute over the state constitution prompts the sudden, controversial dissolution of Seattle's only high school, leaving teachers and students adrift.

   Mar 18, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

10. The Tragedy at the Soap Factory

    A local businessman meets a horrific end after falling into a vat of boiling grease.

    Jun 18, 1884Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

11. The Great Telephone Switchboard Fire

    A tangled mess of high-voltage arc light wires sends fireworks cascading through the central telephone exchange, nearly incinerating the entire plant.

    Nov 10, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyDisasters

12. Spokane Women Form Protective Association

    Nearly 300 women crowded into court to demand justice for a victim of sexual assault, signaling a new era of civic activism.

    Jan 7, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSpokane, Spokane CountyTrue Crime

13. She Fought a Sailor in the Dark—and Helped Police Find Him by Morning

    Mary Kriser, who ran a lodging house at South Second and Weller streets, was robbed and sexually assaulted in September 1894. A neighbor broke down a door, and police identified a suspect within ninety minutes.

    Sep 10, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

14. The Well That Killed Twice

    A promising new homestead a few miles east of Whatcom became a death trap when a pocket of gas swallowed John Kidwell and the neighbor who tried to save him.

    Aug 26, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerBellingham, Whatcom CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

15. The Blaine Fisherman Who Pulled Seven People Out of the Water and Never Told Anyone

    Hans Nielson is 24 years old, slight of build, and has saved seven lives in ten years — two in Denmark, five around Blaine — and calls each rescue a thing 'only incidental to the life of a water toiler.'

    May 22, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerBlaine, Whatcom CountyStrange But True

16. The Ghostly Fire on Mount Rainier

    A mountain party finds their camp transformed into an eerie, glowing scene during an alpine electrical storm.

    Apr 17, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Pierce CountyStrange But True

17. Congressman Cushman and the Tariff 'Barter'

    A stinging editorial accusation that Tacoma's representative traded his constituents' interests for a seat on the House Ways and Means Committee.

    Mar 17, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall

18. The Barber Who Inhaled Gas and Ran Screaming Down Pacific Avenue

    A faulty gas arc left a new barber violently irrational and touched off a street struggle in Tacoma.

    Jan 2, 1909The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyStrange But True

19. Midnight Fire at the Northern Hotel

    A fire breaks out in the kitchen of the Northern Hotel, sending guests fleeing into the halls in their nightclothes.

    Feb 9, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyDisasters · Gone Forever

20. 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.

    Jul 25, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMount Rainier, Pierce CountyStrange But True

21. Forty-Three Old Soldiers at Orting — and the Olympia Women Furnishing Their Rooms

    The state soldiers' home that legislators once laughed at now shelters 43 Civil War veterans, and cities across Washington are racing to outfit their quarters — Olympia's Relief Corps is fitting up an 'Olympia room.'

    Dec 11, 1891The Olympia TribuneWashington Soldiers Home, Orting, OrtingCity Hall

22. A Frontier Reckoning

    A chance meeting at a wilderness camp forces a man to confront the guard who once brutalized him in a French prison.

    Feb 28, 1884Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerPalouse, Whitman CountyScandal

23. The Rowdy Bible Debate

    A theological debate between an ex-rev and a professor turns into a shouting match, leaving the audience divided and the town of Chehalis unsettled.

    May 25, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerChehalis, Lewis CountyStrange But True

24. A Fist Shaken in Open Court

    A reputation suit turns personal when a witness calls the defense attorney a liar — then threatens him on his way off the stand.

    May 3, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

25. A Treasure Hunt Gone Underwater

    While digging for a water source on Shaw Island, a local man struck a geyser that swallowed his tools and promised a new lake.

    Oct 9, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerShaw Island, San Juan CountyStrange But True

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