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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 3 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
14 stories matching inexpens
- Olympia’s Industrial Ambitions
Local leaders invest in tide lands to lure manufacturing to the city.
- The Farmers' Plan to Drain Lake Washington
Valley farmers eye an inexpensive ditch as the only solution to the catastrophic flooding threatening their livelihood.
- The University Chemist’s Low-Cost Dynamite
A University of Washington professor proposes a state-manufactured explosive to slash land-clearing costs for farmers.
- The Demand for Life-Saving Guard Rails
A witness to a horrific accident involving a child and a cable car calls for mandatory safety equipment on Seattle transit.
- The Fight for Clear Water Rights
A new commission report proposes sweeping changes to ensure farmers and businesses can finally secure legal titles to their water.
- The Road to Nowhere: How Seattle’s Leaders Left Lake Washington Residents Stranded in Mud
In March 1877, residents living between the city and Lake Washington found their commute impossible. The city council ignored petitions for a proper road, offering only fir boughs and gravel dust as solutions.
- A Half-Million-Dollar Gamble to Shave Two Hours Off the Trip to Olympia
A promoter asks Seattle's Chamber of Commerce for a subsidy to build a twelve-mile rail link at Colby and Vaughn, promising fast steamer connections and a boom for the capital route.
- The Niagara of the Northwest: Wiring Snoqualmie Falls to Seattle
A new company with $2 million in capital proposes to harness a 265-foot waterfall 23 miles east and sell 5,000 horse power of electricity to the city — if the capitalists will foot the bill.
- A Vassar of the West: Pullman Builds a Home for College Women
In 1895, Washington Agricultural College regents approved a granite-and-brick women’s dormitory with parlors, a recreation hall and suites modeled on Eastern colleges.
- The Fresh Water Fortress: Why Seattle Was Built to Save Ships from the Sea
Captain U.H. Hall returns from Washington D.C. with a bold proposal for a Navy Yard in Lake Washington, arguing that fresh water is the only defense against the 'Teredo' worm and foreign invasion.
- 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.
- The Millionaire’s Gamble: Ryan & McDonald Awarded the $3M Rail Contract
New York contractors secure the massive deal to connect Seattle and Spokane Falls in just two years, promising to unlock Eastern Washington's grain and timber wealth.
- Olympia Bought a $1,500 Sewer Map Critics Called Worthless
A letter to the editor accuses the city council of buying a stranger's sewer plan without scrutiny—complete with a harbor reservoir already condemned in San Diego.
- An Engineer Bets Newport Could Rival Spokane
A Spokane mining engineer reports on the Bead Lake and Conquest claims, arguing that capital, a concentrator and a five-mile rail spur could turn a dormant district into Newport’s future.
Also about this, in other words
- The Governor's 1895 Warning: Washington Is Spending Itself Into Debt
A message to the legislature tallies a looming deficit, runaway appropriations and a public-land system under pressure — while urging lawmakers to lease harbor areas cheaply and defend taxpayers.