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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 4 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 24 |
| 1877 | 48 |
| 1878 | 19 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 9 |
| 1882 | 11 |
| 1883 | 108 |
| 1884 | 103 |
| 1885 | 71 |
| 1886 | 47 |
| 1887 | 33 |
| 1888 | 28 |
| 1889 | 92 |
| 1890 | 28 |
| 1891 | 109 |
| 1892 | 245 |
| 1893 | 240 |
| 1894 | 219 |
| 1895 | 172 |
| 1897 | 9 |
| 1898 | 24 |
| 1899 | 30 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 64 |
| 1904 | 85 |
| 1905 | 11 |
| 1907 | 9 |
| 1908 | 79 |
| 1909 | 165 |
| 1910 | 22 |
| 1911 | 5 |
| 1914 | 11 |
| 1915 | 15 |
| 1916 | 19 |
| 1917 | 9 |
| 1918 | 5 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 5 |
| 1925 | 2 |
| 1929 | 1 |
2,211 stories matching northern
- The Railroad Rate That Could Sink a Shingle Mill
As Seattle shingle manufacturers weigh a boycott of the Northern Pacific, they look to the Great Northern—and worry the fight could hit local dealers.
- When the Water Came Up to the Post Office: Floods Cut Seattle’s Rail and Mail Lines
Spring freshets submerged low streets, stalled Great Northern and Northern Pacific trains, and left Seattle business houses waiting days for mail.
- Telescoped at the Crossing: A Grant Street Horror
When a Northern Pacific freight train plowed into an electric streetcar on May 20, 1909, one man died and dozens were mangled in the icy water below. The crash exposed dangerous speeds and negligent watchmen at a city intersection that remains vital today.
- James J. Hill's Railroad Ultimatum to Seattle
The Great Northern president tells Seattle's council he will build freight and passenger terminals 'right away'—if the city grants the track franchises he wants across the tide flats and South Third.
- The $2 Fee That Sunk a Warehouse: Railroads Tighten Grip on Seattle's Waterfront
A group of local businessmen planned a major grain warehouse at the foot of Battery Street, but Northern Pacific's refusal to budge on switching fees scuttled the deal—and highlighted the railroads' stranglehold on Seattle's shipping future.
- The North Bank Railroad Boom
A new joint venture between the Northern Pacific and Great Northern will connect Pasco to Portland, funneling millions into the regional economy.
- Great Northern Insists Seattle Won't Be a Branch Line
Portland's Oregonian claimed the railroad would demote Seattle to a spur. Company officials call it a 'canard' — but the fight over which city the rails terminate at is real.
- The Railroad Baron Who Refused to Compete With Shadows
Northern Pacific president Tom Oakes tells Seattle that Jim Hill’s Great Northern is more phantom than threat—and explains why cutting timber rates could backfire on Puget Sound’s lumbermen.
- The Tacoma Strike, Undone and Redone in a Single Day
Northern Pacific tries to declare victory, but firemen, switchmen and engineers vote to stay out—while Debs wires that the fight is still solid.
- The Railroads' Man in the Senate Race
A Spokane editor charged that John L. Wilson's campaign for U.S. Senate was being bankrolled and worked by the Northern Pacific and Great Northern railroads.
- The Railroad Land Agent Who Chose Death Over Ruin
Paul Schulze, the Northern Pacific’s former land agent and a promoter of Tacoma streetcars and Yakima irrigation, shot himself as receivers took over his enterprises.
- Newport to the Railroad Commission: Our Depot Is a Disgrace
State regulators will inspect the Great Northern's station and train service on May 7, and Newport citizens are being organized to demand a new depot, safe crossings, and basic comforts.
- A Second Railroad Strike Threatens Seattle as Union Demands Great Northern Stand Down
Seattle's American Railway Union president receives a telegram from Chicago ordering a halt to Great Northern's assistance to other roads — and local trainmen brace for another walkout.
- Four Railroads, One Street Grid, and a Deal Seattle Had to Approve
Great Northern, Northern Pacific and rival lines nearly settle how their tracks will cross south of downtown—if the city council will rewrite their franchises.
- The Land Grab That Built Tacoma: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Stole Millions of Acres
A furious editorial in the Seattle Star exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad’s scheme to misappropriate public lands for a private coal line, arguing that the company is using legal loopholes to steal from settlers in King and Snohomish counties.
- Tacoma's Railroad Stranglehold
How the Northern Pacific's control over regional freight trade stifles the city's economic future.
- A Town Organizes a Vigilance Committee to Keep 'Northern Indians' Off Its Shore
Citizens meet at the Court House, resolve that 'no Northern Indians at any time be allowed to land at this place,' and appoint a standing Committee of Vigilance to enforce it.
- The Battle for the Waterfront: Seattle's 1892 Railroad Struggle
As the Northern Pacific sought to claim prime space on Railroad Avenue, the city council faced a pivotal decision: prioritize corporate rail expansion or protect the public from the dangerous, crooked 'ram's horn' tracks that choked the waterfront.
- 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.
- The Land Grab That Stalled Seattle’s Growth
A local editorial warns that the Northern Pacific Railroad’s hoarding of millions of acres is strangling settlement and development in Washington Territory.
- Monopoly on the Rails
Tacoma shippers fight against Northern Pacific's refusal to grant access to competing railroads, stifling the city's trade.
- Newport Bets on the Railroad
The Idaho & Washington Northern will break ground on a brick passenger station next week, with a freight depot and $75,000 in yard improvements close behind.
- A Packed Council Chamber, a Railroad Franchise, and a Fight Over Public Streets
Newport's city council meeting drew a standing-room crowd as aldermen tangled over an Idaho Washington Northern street-vacation request, a conflict-of-interest accusation, saloon licenses, and an electric-light contract.
- A Panic Year Boom: Newport Built Through Hard Times
Despite a national financial panic, Newport added 87 homes, six concrete business blocks, new depots, churches, and a reshaped downtown—proud evidence of a town betting on itself.
- Surveyors Hunt a Mountain Pass for Newport’s Railroad Future
Great Northern surveyors reportedly found a low-grade route through the mountains, fueling hopes of a Newport–Chewelah cutoff and a rail boom across the Pend Oreille country.
Also about this, in other words
- Midnight Fire at the Northern Hotel
A fire breaks out in the kitchen of the Northern Hotel, sending guests fleeing into the halls in their nightclothes.
- The Hard Luck of the Northern Mines
When the Snohomish River ran too shallow for navigation, hopeful miners found themselves stranded, forced to trade their picks for cobbler's benches.
- Great Northern Construction Struggles in Skykomish
A traveler describes the brutal conditions and industrial progress on the railway line, where snowslides and labor efforts define the route.
- The Railway Expansion That Remade the Cascades
Northern Pacific filed a blanket mortgage covering a planned rail line from North Yakima over the Cascades to the Pacific.
- Seattle's Great Northern Cashes In as the Pullman Strike Snarls Rival Railroads
With transcontinental traffic rerouted through Puget Sound, James J. Hill's line refuses to haul cars boycotted by the American Railway Union — settling an old score with the Northern Pacific.
- Building the Great Northern Through the Cascades
Tunnel construction for the Great Northern Railroad claims a life as laborers battle mountain mud and unrelenting rain.
- A Miracle Survival at the Northern Hotel
A dishwasher fell four stories down an elevator shaft at the Northern Hotel and miraculously survived the plunge.
- The Great Northern Sends Surveyors Into the Skagit and Sauk Country
A 100,000-tie contract and a twelve-man expedition up the Upper Skagit and Sauk suggest the railroad is probing a new route through the mountains.