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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 7 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 7 |
| 1895 | 8 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
73 stories matching outlay
- The Canal That Would Make Seattle an Island
In 1883, surveyors proposed locks and canals linking Lake Union and Lake Washington to tidewater—so coal could move by water and Seattle could 'practically stand on an island.'
- The Rising Cost of City Progress
An editorial analysis questioning whether the tripling of street improvement spending under the current administration is delivering value to taxpayers.
- The General and the Missing Military Money
A Senate committee says Washington's adjutant general ran the militia like a personal fiefdom, blew through his appropriation and left the state with a military deficiency.
- The Price of a Vote: Seattle’s 1884 Election Costs
A look back at the surprisingly high cost of democracy in early Seattle, where administrative overhead, printing, and legal red tape turned local elections into a financial burden for the growing town.
- Why Seattle Should Own Its Own Power
An 1889 editorial argues that municipal control of gas, electricity, and water is the only path to fair pricing and civic progress.
- Four Wooden Buildings to a Quarter-Million: Whitman College Counts Its Decade of Growth
President Penrose's tenth-year report to the trustees charts enrollment rising from 93 to more than 320, an endowment grown from $4,500 to $236,652.92 — and a debt that prompts a demand for half a million dollars and a new academy building.
- The Dream of Homeownership in 1891
An early real estate pitch captures the Victorian-era obsession with property as a moral imperative.
- A Revolver at Her Ear: Mary Steel's Third Fight for a Divorce
Mary Steel's third divorce suit against David H. Steel laid bare a bitter fight over $49,000 in Seattle and Montana property—and allegations of violence, control and intimidation.
- Northern Pacific Railroad's Columbia River Land Grab
A skeptical look at how the Northern Pacific Railroad is using speculative track-laying to claim 1,000,000 acres of public land.
- The Pioneer Developer’s Gamble
When Seattle was a young, growing town, Henry Yesler looked for an unconventional way to fund critical mountain infrastructure: raffling off his massive timber empire.
- The People’s Franchise: Seattle Votes Down Municipal Ownership of Streetcars
In a pivotal moment for the city's infrastructure, voters reject the Navin resolution to take control of street railways, cementing private corporate dominance over public transit.
- Seattle’s ‘Palace of Trade’: 10,000 Crowd the Rialto’s Opening Night
A Boston-backed department store at Second and Madison threw open four floors of retail spectacle, declaring Seattle had arrived on the Pacific Coast.
- The Cable Company Wanted More Time. Yesler Avenue Wanted Its Double Track.
In 1895, Seattle’s aldermen weighed whether to give a struggling street railway more time to double-track Yesler Avenue—or force it to honor the franchise the neighborhood had bought into.
- The Great Seattle Lottery: A $100,000 Sawmill and a Road to Nowhere
In 1876, the Washington Territory legislature authorized a massive public lottery to fund a road through Snoqualmie Pass. The grand prize? Yelver’s Steam Saw Mill. It was a bold gamble on infrastructure that reveals how early Seattle funded its growth.
- Seattle's Frontier Expansion
A report on the rapid growth, construction, and economic development of Seattle in 1883.
- The Million-Dollar Ticket: How Seattle Bet Its Future on a Lottery
In 1876, the city’s most prominent businessman launched a massive lottery to fund a mountain road, offering a steam sawmill valued at $100,000 as the grand prize.
- Seattle’s 'Reform' Government Promised Clean Streets and Low Taxes. Two Years Later, the Bill Came Due.
A furious 1894 editorial accuses the Democratic city administration of breaking every campaign promise—keeping Whitechapel open, protecting gambling, and cutting day laborers while salaried officials kept their pay.
- A Seattle Stage Benefit for Franklin’s Mine Disaster Families
An Olympic Athletic Club benefit at the Seattle Theater raised more than $2,000 for widows and orphans after a Washington coal-mine disaster.
- The Iron Road Reaches the Pacific
Seattle prepares to welcome Henry Villard, the man behind the Northern Pacific Railroad's completion.
- Streetcar Companies Balk at City Lighting Mandate
Seattle's transit operators claim they cannot afford to install lights along their tracks as ordered by the City Council.
- Seattle's Schools Were Running on Borrowed Money—and the Bill Was Due
In 1895, the school board urged voters to ratify a stack of bonds and warrants incurred to build schools, warning that the alternative was a six-month school year—or repudiation.
- The River’s Revenge: How a Flood Saved the Jam Company Millions
While laborers toiled for months to clear the Snoqualmie Falls log jam, a sudden freshet swept away their equipment and valuable timber—yet paradoxically cleared the river faster than human hands ever could.
- The Barn That Was a Courthouse: King County’s Shameful Jail and Office Conditions
An editorial exposé reveals that King County’s records are stored in a 'mere barn' and prisoners live in conditions 'a disgrace to a humane community,' urging the sale of bonds for new buildings.
- The Price of Keeping the Peace
After anti-Chinese riots rocked Seattle in 1886, the city found itself with a massive bill for martial law and the cost of keeping the peace.
- The Great Tax Delinquency Scramble
A new revenue law threatens to wipe out old tax liens, forcing officials to chase down thousands of property owners to clear the county books before the November deadline.
Also about this, in other words
- Mining Dispute Turns Violent in Whatcom
A representative of a Seattle development company is arrested for assaulting a mining expert at the Blue Canyon mine.
- The Gambler Who Outsmarted the City Hall
In Tacoma, a local sharp named Morgan has become so powerful that citizens are joking he holds more sway than the elected officials.
- The Three-Foot Loophole: A Clever Workaround for Tacoma's Gambling Ban
Tacoma's Olympic Club skirts police edicts by raising the floor three feet to technically evade gambling restrictions.
- Worker Injured in Elevator Shaft Fall
A mortar man narrowly survives a thirty-foot plummet at the construction site of the Cadwell building.
- The Don Quixote of Yakima
A local insurance agent's attempt to discredit the Priest Rapids Valley land project is dismissed by the Spokesman as a publicity stunt.
- The Tragedy at the Arcade Saloon
A well-known Seattle boarding house keeper ends his life, leaving behind a young daughter and a legacy of property, marking a grim moment in the city's growth.
- The Raid on Occidental Avenue
Seattle police stage a dramatic basement breach to dismantle a gambling operation.
- A Saloon Showdown in Tacoma
A complicated dispute over a local watering hole descends into a flurry of mutual arrests and legal maneuvering.