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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 6 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 1 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 8 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 7 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 2 |
71 stories matching illumin
- City Hall Left in the Dark
Rumors swirl that a power company pulled the plug on City Hall to spite the outgoing Mayor, but the company president insists it is just a post-fire technical issue.
- A Grand Welcome for Seattle's Visitors
When an excursion party arrived in Seattle in 1885, they were treated to a citywide illumination and a clam bake at Port Blakely, sparking a fierce local rivalry over the naming of Mount Rainier.
- Spokane Dressed for a Railroad King—and Waited Until Midnight
Spokane Falls spent a week building arches and hanging evergreens for Henry Villard's Northern Pacific excursion, but delayed trains turned the grand reception into a series of after-dark whistle-stops—and Ulysses S. Grant drew the crowd that the railroad had promised.
- A Palace on Rails Arrives in Newport
Idaho Washington Northern's new Pullman coaches—steam-heated, electric-lit and brass-trimmed—began service out of Newport, promising a new through line to Spokane.
- Three Light Plants Become One, With a Promise of Cheap Electricity
The Union Electric Company and the Seattle Gas & Electric Light Company have merged into the Union Illumination Company. Boilers are being hauled to the Grant Street bridge powerhouse, and the new manager says rate cuts are two weeks away.
- 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 Clam Bake That Defined a City
When a visiting delegation of Midwesterners arrived in 1886, Seattle citizens didn't just host them—they illuminated the hills and threw a massive communal feast on the Sound.
- Olympia Celebrates the Turning Point of the Civil War
Upon receiving news of Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg, the capital of Washington Territory erupted in days of wild, illuminated celebration.
- City Left in Dark After Gas Tank Explosion
A major receiving tank failure leaves Tacoma without illuminating gas, forcing citizens and local businesses to scramble for alternatives.
- A Power Station to Light Newport
The Northern Idaho & Montana Power Co. is building a $15,000 fireproof office and substation at Washington and Pine, promising 24-hour electric service within ninety days.
- When Wires Crossed: Seattle's Great Electrical Tangle of 1895
A freak accident at 11 p.m. mixed electric light, fire alarm, and telephone lines, cutting off 50 subscribers and burning out equipment across downtown Seattle.
- When Seattle Rolled Out the Red Carpet for the Nation's Editors
In 1900, Seattle’s civic leaders threw a lavish, boat-filled spectacle for visiting journalists to burnish the city's image as a rising metropolis.
- The Night Kennewick Lit Its Community Christmas Tree
Snow fell as hundreds of children gathered at Second and Yakima for candy, carols and a Boy Scout–guarded tree—with enough left over to send bags to a Spokane orphanage.
- The Chautauqua Assembly's First Season at the Sound
After a summer of lectures and illumination, Seattle and Tacoma residents bid farewell to the gathering that organizers hope will define a permanent Puget Sound cultural tradition.
- Spiritualism on Trial in Yakima
A witness defends the authenticity of a recent séance, describing illuminated spirits and physical manifestations in a cabinet séance.
- Bracing for a Blackout at the Fruit Fair
After years of frustration, Walla Walla's fruit fair management installs gas backups to keep the pavilion illuminated.
- Seattle's Rival Gas and Electric Firms Merge Under One Roof
The Union Electric Company and the Seattle Gas and Electric Light Company lease their plants to a new Union Illuminating Company, promising customers that 'consumers will be unaffected.'
- The Tacoma Theater's Electric Sign Crumbles
A fierce windstorm tears down the landmark illuminated sign on St. Helens Avenue.
- Seattle’s Fourth of July: A City Adorned in Light and Iron
As the nation celebrates its birthday, Seattle’s business leaders have transformed downtown into a spectacle of gas jets, electric lamps, and iron arches, proving that the young city is ready for its moment on the national stage.
- The Torchlight Mob at Frye's Opera House
In 1885, Seattle laborers and anti-Chinese activists gathered for a massive, torch-lit demonstration to demand the removal of the city's Chinese population, marking a dark chapter of exclusionary labor violence in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Expulsion of Tacoma’s Chinese Residents
A celebratory procession and public speeches in Tacoma mark the return of twenty-seven men indicted for the forced removal of the city's Chinese population.
- The Eastern Oregon Burned at Percival’s Wharf
A repair crew’s paint store caught fire aboard the steamship Eastern Oregon, forcing men to jump forty feet to the mudflats and killing one cook; the blaze threatened Percival’s Wharf before rain helped firefighters.
- Seattle Celebrates the Great Northern Arrival
Thousands flock to Pioneer Place for the opening of the Mineral Palace, marking the completion of the railway and the Fourth of July.
- Walla Walla Battles for Public Water
A landslide vote rejects private control in favor of a new municipal gravity system.
- A Wall of Smoke and Flame Across Puget Sound
Forest fires from Hood Canal to the Nooksack Valley left dozens of families homeless in 1894, while smoke turned steamboat travel blind and daily life in Seattle into a gray haze.
Also about this, in other words
- The Hidden Metal Powering the Electric Age
A rare, inaccessible metal from the Ural Mountains has become as valuable as gold, and it is the only thing keeping the world's incandescent light bulbs from shattering.