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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 13 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
37 stories matching implement
- Seattle's Jobless Are Handed Potato Patches
A citizens' committee working out of a Railroad Avenue office gives out vacant land, seed and tools to more than twenty families in a single day — one of them has fourteen children.
- The City Hall Gambling Den
When police raided the local underworld, the city’s courtroom was transformed into an impromptu warehouse for illicit gaming gear.
- A Violent Prison Break in Early Seattle
A brutal struggle erupts in the King County jail as desperate inmates ambush the jailer in a failed escape attempt.
- The Struggle for Space at Seattle High School
As the class of 1893 graduates, the school’s principal warns that overcrowding and a lack of facilities are stalling the city’s educational ambitions.
- Work Relief at the County Farm
Faced with a surge of unemployment and the limitations of traditional charity, King County Commissioners implement a work-for-pay program to sustain struggling families.
- A Threat to Washington’s Orchards
A government inspector warns that nursery stock across Washington and Oregon is infested, putting the future of fruit exports to British Columbia at risk.
- The Fight for Religious Education in Schools
Clergy call for the inclusion of formal religious instruction within the public school curriculum, arguing that secular education creates a moral vacuum.
- Relics of a Coast Salish Landing Found Beneath Seattle’s Locks
Stone tools and bone implements from an old Native American gathering place have been classified and added to the University of Washington’s Coast Salish collection.
- When Seattle Tried to Farm Its Way Out of Hard Times
An 1895 committee offered plots, tools and seed to out-of-work families near Lake Union, insisting the plan was a hand up rather than charity.
- The Plague Panic at the Border
As smallpox cases surge in British Columbia, Seattle and surrounding towns scramble to implement strict quarantine measures and mandatory vaccinations to keep the disease at bay.
- City Leaders Accused of Sewer Scandal
Seattle's Board of Public Works is under fire for alleged mismanagement, incompetence, and waste during the city's massive sewer construction projects.
- The Test of Conscience for Seattle’s Citizen Militia
Company E implements a rigorous questionnaire for recruits, aiming to filter out labor unionists and drinkers in an era of intense industrial unrest.
- The Union Club's Roulette Wheel
A judge rules that a seized roulette wheel isn't necessarily a gambling tool, sparking a debate over the city's power to destroy property.
- The Great Seattle Rebuild: Rethinking Fire Safety After the Ashes
In the wake of the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, experts and local leaders scramble to replace wooden tinderboxes with new, fireproof standards and modern building codes.
- Railroad Receiver Implements Austerity Measures
Faced with financial strain, the Lake Shore road's receiver fires thirty-six men and halts essential maintenance work.
- Seattle Spends $100 on Seeds to Put the Unemployed on the Land
The city council backs the Pingree plan, buying garden tools and seed for indigent residents to cultivate vacant lots and raise vegetables.
- The Price of Education in Early Seattle
A concerned citizen calls out the School Board for slashing teacher wages to settle district debts, highlighting a lopsided austerity that spared no professional pocketbook.
- D.T. Denny's Farm and the 'Pingree Plan': A 1895 Experiment in Land for the Poor
A committee formed to give unemployed and poor Seattleites land to cultivate, with Denny offering his old North Seattle farm for a year.
- The Iron Road and the Sea
As the federal government prepares to implement the Interstate Commerce Act, Seattle business leaders argue the city is immune to the looming rise in rail freight rates.
- The Politics of Poverty: Seattle’s 1878 Voter Suppression Fight
A century and a half ago, local officials tried to implement a 'poll tax' to restrict voting rights, sparking a fierce debate over whether a citizen’s right to participate in democracy could be tied to their financial status.
- The Wealth of the Nation Trapped in the Vaults
A century and a half ago, President Grover Cleveland grappled with a modern-sounding crisis: federal budget surpluses causing economic panic, skyrocketing costs for common goods, and the crushing weight of a tariff system on working families.
- 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.
- The Waterfront War: Railroads Clash Over Seattle Tide Flats
A long-standing right-of-way dispute between the Great Northern and the Oregon Improvement Company turns physical as crews rip up tracks at the foot of Washington Street.
- Seattle's Pingree Plan: Free Garden Plots for the Unemployed
A city-backed scheme opens an office at 14 Railroad Avenue to hand out land so jobless families can grow their own food — provided the subscriptions come in fast enough.
- Seattle Promoters Pitch a Land Boom in 1888
Developers were promising that Seattle would become the 'Mistress of the Pacific,' enticing investors with visions of massive industry, steel mills, and skyrocketing real estate values.