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| 1854 | 2 |
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227 stories matching panic
- The Panic-Proof Man
A boisterous braggart in a Grand River grocery store claims he can stop any theater panic with a single revolver—until a fake fire prank proves his cowardice.
- Seattle’s Post-Panic Pep Talk: Canals, Steel and Paved Streets
On New Year’s Day 1895, Seattle’s mayor and aldermen promised economy, railroad terminals and a Lake Washington canal—and insisted the Panic of 1893 was finally fading.
- An Editor's Grump at the Panic of 1907
Amid a national financial collapse, a local newspaper editor offers a biting critique of 'high finance' and presidential rhetoric.
- 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.
- Everett’s Organized Labor Defies the Panic
Despite the financial turmoil of 1907-1908, local unions report strength and steady growth, proving their resilience against employer attempts to drive down wages.
- Midnight Panic at the St. Cloud
A spectacular five-story blaze in downtown Seattle forces guests to flee in their nightclothes, leaving a landmark hotel in ruins.
- The Heat That Broke the Girls: A Seattle Summer of Hysteria
In June 1902, a sweltering afternoon in downtown Seattle turned a garment factory into a scene of mass panic as workers collapsed from heat prostration.
- The Floor Gives Way: Panic and Death at Seattle’s Morris Opera House
A grand opening night turns into a nightmare when the second-story floor of the newly converted theater collapses into the stables below, killing several and injuring dozens in one of the city's earliest major disasters.
- Fireworks Committee Blamed for Panic at Wright Park
Careless handling of explosives during Tacoma's Fourth of July celebration left spectators injured and fleeing for their lives.
- Fatal Panic Following a Cruel Hoax
A woman drowns in a desperate escape attempt after a stranger falsely claims a Seattle saloon is under quarantine.
- Fireworks Panic at Wright Park
A lack of basic safety measures at Tacoma's Fourth of July celebration nearly leads to a deadly stampede.
- Smallpox Panic Grips Snohomish
Snohomish health officer vaccinates 20 saloon men, jails refusers as smallpox kills a bridge builder.
- The Seattle Grocer Who Died Chasing Central American Trade
J. E. Chilberg clawed back from a fire, a failed corporation and a panic to build a Puget Sound steamship trade with Guatemala — then went down with the foundering Colima on the voyage that was supposed to secure it.
- The Rivalry That Built the Sound
In 1887, C.B. Wright, a key figure in the development of Tacoma, reflects on the 'nip and go' panic that forced the Northern Pacific terminus to choose between Tacoma and Seattle.
- Fifty Jobs and a Logging Camp Pull Newport Out of the Panic
A new McInnis Brothers logging contract south of town gives nearly fifty men six months of work and eases a winter of post-panic unemployment.
- The Banker Who Steered Newport Through the Panic of 1907
G. S. Thomas founded Newport's first bank, helped bring the city its water system, and died after guiding the institution through the financial stringency of November 1907.
- Fifty Shingle Men March Up the Hill—and Back Down Again
Seattle's shingle manufacturers spend a full day fixing prices, then panic and rescind the whole scheme in the final five minutes.
- The Prickly Pear That Changed a Life: How a Boy’s Prank in Iowa Sent Him to Seattle
A local resident reveals the bizarre chain of events that led him from an Iowa farm to the Pacific Northwest, starting with a screwdriver and a pair of boots.
- The Price of Discontent: A Warning from the 1877 Panic
While Seattle thrives on the steady hum of mills and logging camps, a Seattle editor warns citizens against petty grievances by recounting the harrowing hunger and unemployment plaguing the rest of the country.
- A Funeral Panic at the Salvation Army Barracks
A tragedy in Spokane leads to a funeral service so crowded that the church building began to buckle and crack, nearly causing a second disaster.
- The City’s ‘Losings-Bank’: A Temperance Sermon on Economic Ruin
In an 1881 sermon at Plymouth Church, a local minister argues that Seattle’s rampant saloon culture—not market forces—is the primary engine of financial instability.
- Terrified Passengers Flee as Steamship Hits Snag on Snohomish River
A routine trip turns into a frantic scene of life-preserver panic when the steamboat Fanny Lake hits an underwater obstacle just a mile from city docks.
- The Palouse Prosperity Boom
Whitman County farmers leave the 1893 credit panic behind as bank deposits shatter all previous records.
- The Great School Door Standoff
Tacoma’s Building Inspector and the Board of Education clash over fire safety ordinances and classroom door configurations.
- A Pioneer Stove Merchant Survives Fire, Panic, and a Receivership
Z.C. Miles arrived in 1870, rebuilt after the Great Seattle Fire, and joined forces with a young executive to create a coast-wide jobbing giant in stoves and electric supplies.
Also about this, in other words
- The Panic on Stage: How a Shout of 'Fight' Turned a Seattle Theater into a Stampede
In the winter of 1876, a misinterpreted cry during a local play sparked a chaotic rush for exits, injuring several patrons and exposing the fragility of public order in the young city.
- The Price of Panic in 1888 Seattle
When an unfounded rumor of a merchant’s bankruptcy swept through the city, the local business community banded together to stave off a catastrophic bank run.
- The Thunderstorm That Cleared the Air
When panic gripped 1887 Seattle following a series of rumors, a firm stand by the Governor turned local anxiety into a surprising display of civic unity.
- The Price of Panic: Seattle's 1878 Foreclosure Wave
A legal notice detailing the seizure of property in Seattle and King County reveals a landscape defined by debt, land disputes, and the brutal finality of the Sheriff’s gavel.
- The 'White Slavery' Panic: A Lecture That Shocked the Tri-Cities
In April 1914, a visiting reverend used sensationalized rhetoric to warn Kennewick residents about the dangers of moral corruption, reflecting the era's intense anxiety over women's safety and autonomy.
- A Terrifying Case of Mass Hysteria on the Ballard Line
A motorman and conductor abandoned their moving streetcar in fear, triggering a chaotic panic among passengers that led to multiple injuries.
- The Great Retail Panic of 1900
Facing a glut of inventory and the pressure of a 'flood-tide' of retail competition, a major Seattle department store launched a desperate, city-wide clearance event to move stock.
- The Price of Panic: Losing the Farm to the Sheriff
After a grueling economic downturn, a King County family faces the auction block as court-ordered sales sweep Seattle.