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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 2 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 5 |
| 1886 | 7 |
| 1887 | 7 |
| 1888 | 6 |
| 1889 | 9 |
| 1891 | 16 |
| 1892 | 53 |
| 1893 | 58 |
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| 1904 | 33 |
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| 1909 | 34 |
| 1910 | 7 |
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| 1915 | 9 |
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| 1924 | 1 |
478 stories matching inspector
- One Man, Five Badges, One Dollar a Month
Seattle's house of delegates votes to fold the plumbing inspector, sanitary officer, fire marshal, oil inspector and market inspector into a single job — then argues for two hours about whether the city is saving money or just hiding the work.
- The 750-Page 'Blue Book' That Could Cost Seattle Its Customs Inspector
A federal official fights for his job as Washington weighs a massive volume of testimony — including a scheme to bill the government for steamboat rides he never paid for.
- A Steamboat Inspector on Trial, and the Men Who Kicked
A Seattle courtroom hears masters and pilots defend Capt. Bryant against charges of favoritism—and admit that the men who complain are often the incompetent ones.
- "All the Devils in Hell Can't Get Me Out of This Position"
Puget Sound steamboat men spent a year trying to oust the federal hull inspector they accuse of padding his travel expenses. Their affidavits went to Washington City and vanished into red tape — and Bryant kept his job.
- The $1-a-Month Man: Seattle Tries to Gut Its Plumbing Inspector
With theft charges pending against the nominee, delegates debate whether to abolish the office or just pay a competent inspector.
- The Night Federal Agents Made Chinatown Show Its Papers
A certificate sweep through Wa Chong’s rooms broke up card games and opium pipes and netted one man accused of lying in a deportation case.
- The Steamboat Inspector Scandal
A call for accountability in the regulation of Puget Sound shipping as serious allegations hit the local inspector.
- The Inspector Who Rode Free: Seattle's Steamboat Watchdog on Trial
Local steamboat inspector W. J. Bryant stands accused of favoritism in granting licenses, of padding his travel accounts while riding free, and of owing his office to his sidelines selling life-preservers and marine insurance.
- The Inspector Walks: Seattle’s Port Officer Cleared After a Five-Day Fight
A Treasury report finds the charges against Inspector Bryant were rooted in personal ill will—and praises him as “a very efficient officer.”
- Tacoma’s Theater Safety Crisis
Following the horrific Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago, local inspectors scramble to identify hazards in Tacoma’s aging entertainment venues.
- The 'Scrawniest Things' on Second Street: A 1889 Fight Over Slum Housing
When the city's building inspector sought clarification on code, he triggered a blistering critique of the shoddy, dangerous 'rookeries' being erected in the shadow of the Great Seattle Fire.
- King County Lawmakers Want to Cut the Budget—and Railroad Rates
Ahead of the 1901 legislative session, King County’s representatives outline a shared agenda: slash state expenses, abolish useless commissions, lower railroad freight and passenger rates, and create a state grain inspector to protect farmers from brokers.
- The Great Horticultural Graft
A scathing editorial from The Ranch magazine accuses the state legislature of creating a bloated, ineffective bureaucracy under the guise of agricultural protection.
- The Chicken Inspector of West Street
A local market inspector faces a lawsuit and a petition for his removal after condemning a display of spring chickens as unfit for consumption.
- Seattle's Fruit Inspection Racket: Dumping California Produce to Protect Local Markets
A dispute over British Columbia's fruit inspection leads The Ranch to admit that Puget Sound inspectors have used the law to condemn California and Oregon fruit, easing market congestion and raising questions about regulatory abuse.
- City Hall Moves to Consolidate Sewer Oversight
The Seattle Board of Health moves to cut the 'unnecessary' sewer inspector position, arguing the city engineer and plumbing inspector can easily absorb the light workload of ten inspections a month.
- Council Rejects Wage Hikes for City Workers
Tacoma officials see their proposed raises for laborers and inspectors go down to defeat.
- The Fake Postal Inspector Who Robbed the Great Northern — and Got Away With Less Than $5
A bogus federal inspector bound two mail clerks, rifled registered pouches, and slipped off the Oriental Limited at Spokane, leaving Newport authorities to piece together a brazen, almost profitless heist.
- The Invisible Killer in Your Milk: Seattle’s Health Officer Warns of Tuberculosis Cows
With consumption rates soaring and no dedicated veterinary inspector on staff, local officials admit the city is dangerously unprepared to stop diseased cattle from entering the food supply.
- Twenty-Three Miners Died. An Old Miner Blamed the Air.
After an explosion at Blue Canyon in Whatcom County killed 23 men, a veteran miner wrote to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the mines were not properly ventilated—and that inspectors and bosses ignored miners who knew better.
- The Postal Inspector's Decoy Trap
A persistent postal investigator nabs two local lottery men after months of elaborate sting operations.
- A High-Stakes Chase Through the Woods
Federal inspectors track and capture four Chinese immigrants in the timber-heavy region near Sedro-Woolley after a two-day manhunt.
- The Smuggler's Shield: How a Seattle Customs Chief Defended Himself in Tacoma
In the height of the 1888 opium smuggling scandal, Chief Inspector Gardner takes the stand in Tacoma, claiming he was set up by political rivals to cover his own failures.
- The City Stops the Build: Seattle's 1889 Fight Over 'Fireproof' Tent-Frames
When D.K. Baxter tried to erect three structures made of pipe frames and canvas on Yesler Avenue, the city inspector shut him down, triggering a tense legal stand-off over what constitutes a safe building.
- The Geary Act in Port Angeles
A customs inspector initiates a crackdown under the Chinese Exclusion-era registration laws.
Also about this, in other words
- The Railroad’s New ‘Company Cop’
A newly appointed railroad inspector wields broad authority to discipline train crews for incivility, drinking, or ticket scalping.
- The Crumbling Tenement on Second and Main
A concerned citizen demands the city inspect a dangerous building teeming with residents and home to a rowdy saloon.
- The Inspector on Trial
Local steamboat captains revolt against a federal inspector accused of corruption, bullying, and selling life preservers for profit.
- The Union Seeks a Seat at the Table
Tacoma’s Carpenters' Union works with the incoming mayor to secure a voice in the city's building inspection process.
- Inspector Blames Defective Boiler in Mukilteo Wreck, Urges State Locomotive Inspection
A state railroad inspector disputes the coroner's jury and asks lawmakers to adopt New York-style inspection of locomotives.
- The Customs Inspector with a Paper Trail
How a Seattle customs official’s history of corruption and confession led to a suspicious opium smuggling sting.
- After a Wharf Collapse, a Call for City Inspectors
W.A. Harrington wants Seattle to hire a wharf inspector with power to inspect piling, force repairs and arrest dilatory owners—paid for by an assessment on the wharves themselves.
- The Inspector Checks the Sheets and the Fire Escapes
A new state lodging-house law brought an inspector to Newport, where rope escapes and alarm gongs were ordered—and innkeepers grumbled about fees and red tape.