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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 6 |
| 1886 | 2 |
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| 1889 | 11 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 18 |
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| 1916 | 1 |
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| 1923 | 1 |
108 stories matching nearest
- Olympia’s Booster Year: Brick, Bridges and a 50,000-Person Promise
As 1891 closed, the capital city counted $3 million in new buildings, a record bridge, electric lights and new rail lines — and predicted 50,000 residents within a decade.
- A Near Miss for Kennewick’s Warehouse District
A passing locomotive sparked a blaze in the sagebrush that nearly razed the town's lumber yards and warehouses.
- Eighty-Five Portland Boosters Take Kennewick by Storm
A trade excursion rolls into town for four hours of speeches, store visits, and open-river boosterism — with the mayor, the railroads, and a 'cocktail' cherry orchard all in on the fun.
- The Tinderbox City: How Unprotected Seattle Lived in Fear of Fire
While the downtown core grew rapidly, many residential districts remained dangerously isolated from fire protection, leaving property owners in a literal state of vulnerability.
- Dry Grass Spark Ignites Fire in Olmsted Addition
A rubbish fire spirals out of control, consuming a shed before the local fire department can bridge the distance from the nearest hydrant.
- Thirty-Seven Miners Died Because They Stayed to Fight the Fire
A blaze in the Franklin coal mine sent smoke through the gangways on Aug. 24, 1894, killing 37 men and boys who thought they had time to escape.
- The Old Man’s Last Stand: A Father’s Flight from Greedy Heirs Ends in a Sheriff’s Chase
P.V. Thorpe, an elderly pioneer fleeing false rape accusations and property theft by his son and son-in-law, was arrested for carrying a revolver in Seattle—only to be vindicated when the truth about his family’s blackmail scheme came to light.
- The Delegate Who Sold Seattle’s Future for Five Thousand Dollars
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch accuses Territorial Delegate George Freeman Willard of betraying Seattle’s interests—specifically the mud flats of Duwamish Bay—to secure his own political and financial gain, while simultaneously accepting bribes from rival railroad companies.
- Convicted in Five Days: The 1877 Murder Case That Shocked a Seattle Editor
After Solomon Baxter was killed, John Thompson went from arrest to a first-degree murder conviction in less than a week. The local paper called it a 'summary proceeding' with no parallel in American law.
- The Iron City That Never Was: Kirkland’s $3 Million Bet on Steel
In 1891, promoters promised to turn the shores of Lake Washington into the 'Pittsburgh of the Pacific,' selling lots for a fortune and laying tracks for a empire that would vanish within a decade.
- A Midnight Knock, a Hidden Fortune, and a Brutal Beating on Vashon Island
Two men demand an old rancher's money, bind and club him, then ransack his cabin for a cache of cash. Seattle police arrest a suspect—and then the victim's wife.
- Streetcar Plunges into Seattle Waterfront
An electric car derails on the North Seattle waterfront, sliding into the tide flats and impaling a passenger on pier pilings.
- The Winter the River Took Lowell
Days of warm rain on deep snow sent the Snohomish over its banks in 1917 — and families rowed out of their own second-story windows.
- A Frontier Town Washed Away in the Night
A catastrophic flood destroyed the business district of Conconully in Okanogan County, leaving residents destitute and the town in ruins after a suspected cloudburst.
- The Terminus Bait: How the Northern Pacific Played Seattle
In 1878, Washington residents saw through the railroad's broken promises and the cynical 'town lot' real estate schemes that kept the city waiting for a line.
- The Tragedy at No. 21 Nixons Street
A Puget Sound trader’s sudden descent into madness leaves a wife dead and himself in his blood on the floor of their attic home.
- The Mob's Cruel Gamble: A Wrongful Lynching Attempt in Rosalia
A husband and wife were dragged into a horrific ordeal by a lynch mob convinced of their guilt in a missing child case—only to discover the child had been safe all along.
- The Day the Slash Hills Burned
A devastating fire sweeps through the rural settlement, consuming homes, crops, and winter stores, leaving families to pick through the ashes.
- The End of the Railroad Land Grab
A trio of government decisions finally ends the Northern Pacific's long-standing practice of seizing settler homes in Washington Territory.
- The Tragedy on Long Prairie
A haunting account of a family destroyed by poverty and mental health crises, reminding us of the human cost lurking behind the pioneer narrative.
- Big Bend Settlers Win Land Rights Over Northern Pacific
Secretary of the Interior Hoke Smith rules against the railroad in a landmark case involving indemnity lands in Eastern Washington.
- The Soldiers Who Refused to Ride With Scabs
During the Pullman strike, a Washington National Guard company mutinied rather than travel on a train crewed by non-union men—and the colonel who disarmed them said the whole unit should be disbanded.
- They Climbed Rainier First—and Slept in a Sulphur-Scented Ice Cave
In 1870, Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump reached Mount Rainier's summit after a brutal 10½-hour climb, then spent a freezing night beside volcanic steam vents.
- The Tide Lands Plat: A Waterfront Laid Out for Sale
State appraisers file the plat for the Tacoma tide lands, opening 600 acres of shore and mud flats to sale—unless upland owners claim them first.
- Refugees Fleeing the Russian Empire Reach Tacoma
Two Jewish merchants arrive in Tacoma after a thousand-mile sledge journey to escape military persecution in Vladivostok.
Also about this, in other words
- A Close Call on River Road
A local child suffers a serious eye injury during a frantic day on the farm.
- Can a Railroad Cut Timber on Public Land?
Judge Hoyt rules on the definition of 'adjacent' lands, a decision with major implications for Northern Pacific’s expansion in Washington Territory.
- A Close Call at the Favorite Mine
A worker is nearly killed at the Favorite mine when a piece of waste quartz thrown from the dump strikes him in the throat.
- The Noise Next Door
A city delegate pushes back against proposed ordinances intended to silence wood-sawing machines near homes.
- Near-Collision at the Bowles Crossing
A dangerous railroad crossing in Kennewick serves as a reminder of the hazards facing motorists and wagons in the early days of automobile traffic.
- Railroad Giant Stumbles in Palouse
A landmark court ruling strips the Northern Pacific of its right-of-way through Palouse City.
- A Near-Death Fall at the Mount Si Hotel
While working on a hotel construction project in Snoqualmie, a man miraculously survives a thirty-four-foot plunge after a scaffold gives way.
- A 'Native Son' for the Toughest Town
While fleeing to California to escape the mountain snows, a stranded couple makes history in the rough-and-tumble railway camp of Skykomish.