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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 6 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1872 | 11 |
| 1876 | 50 |
| 1877 | 28 |
| 1878 | 34 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1880 | 8 |
| 1882 | 10 |
| 1883 | 52 |
| 1884 | 29 |
| 1885 | 72 |
| 1886 | 31 |
| 1887 | 25 |
| 1888 | 40 |
| 1889 | 96 |
| 1890 | 14 |
| 1891 | 88 |
| 1892 | 185 |
| 1893 | 158 |
| 1894 | 143 |
| 1895 | 151 |
| 1897 | 5 |
| 1898 | 16 |
| 1899 | 33 |
| 1900 | 5 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 83 |
| 1904 | 86 |
| 1905 | 7 |
| 1907 | 4 |
| 1908 | 43 |
| 1909 | 77 |
| 1910 | 18 |
| 1911 | 10 |
| 1912 | 6 |
| 1914 | 26 |
| 1915 | 29 |
| 1916 | 37 |
| 1917 | 24 |
| 1918 | 3 |
| 1923 | 9 |
| 1924 | 12 |
| 1925 | 5 |
| 1928 | 2 |
1,781 stories matching owner
- Tacoma Breaks the Grip of 'Blood Money'
The city council votes to seize absolute control over saloon licensing to stop property owners from extorting payments.
- The Great Seattle Street-Cleaning Decree
A desperate 1888 city ordinance threatens property owners with fines if they fail to scrub the filth from their sidewalk frontages.
- Pike Street Property Owners Foot Most of a $55,000 Paving Bill
The city engineer split the cost of paving Pike Street between Seattle and the abutting owners; the contractor was ready to start work.
- The Fight for City Improvements
Prominent citizens clash over property owner resistance to essential infrastructure projects in Tacoma.
- The Price of Progress on Stewart Street
Forty property owners take the city to court over a doubled assessment for the grading of Stewart Street.
- The Ex-Congressman's Lumber Scam
How a high-stakes lobbyist used a fake canal project to strong-arm mill owners for land titles.
- A Sidewalk Battle on G Street
Property owners spar over mandatory concrete upgrades in the face of recent plank-walk investments.
- The Traveling Salesman’s Clever Ruse
A skeptical livery stable owner meets his match in a traveling drummer who refuses to pay for his own horse.
- Street Improvement Row Erupts in Kennewick
Second Ward property owners clash with city officials over mandatory immediate payment plans for street work.
- The Struggle to Flatten Seattle's Hills
Business owners in the North End push to regrade the city’s steep streets, hoping to spur economic growth and bridge the gap between Pike and Blanchard streets.
- 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 Battle for the City’s Curbing Costs
Tacoma property owners fight to shift the burden of street improvement costs from private shoulders to the city's general fund.
- Councilors and the Cost of Progress
A standoff between property owners and council members over street grading reveals the deep entanglement of private business and city government.
- The Right to Keep Your Home After a Tax Sale
Judge Langley rules on a pivotal case challenging whether the city can cut off a homeowner's redemption rights after property is sold for back taxes.
- The Right to Vote for Water
A clarification on who can vote in the Columbia Irrigation district election highlights the importance of land ownership to civic participation.
- City Marshal Vows to Clear Streets of Unlicensed Dogs
Marshal C. E. Copeland warns Kennewick dog owners that their pets will face the 'bone yard' if license fees aren't paid by July 1.
- The New Tide-Flat Plat Put a Foundry in the Street
Seattle shore owners crowded the county auditor's office to see how a new Elliott Bay plat redrew their waterfront—and some found their improvements sitting on paper streets.
- The Price of Progress: Who Should Pay for City Streets?
Tacoma’s City Council debates whether property owners or the general public should shoulder the cost of local infrastructure improvements.
- After Court Fight, Seattle Tries Again to Bill Yesler Avenue Property Owners
City Engineer Thomson files a new assessment roll for grading Yesler Avenue, shifting $21,053.58 onto abutting owners and $16,762.16 onto the city.
- Kennewick Sheriff Spares the Dog, Bills the Owner
A new enforcement order ends the practice of killing unmuzzled dogs found at large, putting fines and jail time on the people who let them run.
- Ranchers Compete for Railroad: West Side Landowners Offer Free Right-of-Way
At a packed meeting at the Locke schoolhouse, 25 property owners strategized to bring the Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad to their side of the river, offering free timberland right-of-way and cheap meadow prices.
- Seattle Property Owners to Assess Front Street Widening
A mid-summer legal notice reveals the bureaucratic struggle to widen Front Street—modern-day First Avenue—as the city demanded property owners share the cost of modernization.
- Mill Owners Dismiss Japanese Workers for 'Language Barrier'
A local mill owner says he will stick to white labor exclusively after deciding that hiring non-English speaking workers was bad for business.
- The Unpaved Dispute: A Seattle Street Fight
When the City Council attempted to force through street improvements against the wishes of local property owners, the resulting legal struggle highlighted the friction between civic development and individual land rights in 1887.
- Main Street Refuses to Be Paved
Property owners between Fifth and Sixth beat back a macadam upgrade, a councilman berates them for it, and the street gets planks instead.