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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 1 |
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| 1886 | 1 |
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26 stories matching paramount
- The State Mandates Smallpox Vaccination
The Washington State Board of Health declares that no child may attend public school without proof of successful vaccination.
- The Battle for the Soul of Tacoma’s Fifth Ward
Local politicians and reformers face off over the 'wide-open' versus 'closed' town debate in a heated campaign meeting.
- Black Diamonds in the Backwoods
A look back at the chaotic, accidental, and often cutthroat early days of coal mining in the Washington Territory.
- The Governor’s 'Health' Trip to California
An editorial questioning whether Governor Ferry's convenient absence from the state was truly medical or a calculated political maneuver to avoid accountability.
- Civic Leaders Respond to the Anti-Chinese Expulsions
The Chamber of Commerce and Board of Trade issue formal resolutions condemning the February 1886 mob violence and pledging to support law and order.
- The 'Ram's Horn' Waterfront Fight
A landmark court battle over railroad right-of-ways and the city's power to control its streets against corporate expansion.
- Walla Walla Questions Paying Twice for Water Rights
City officials and the press lock horns over a costly, potentially unnecessary land acquisition for a municipal gravity water system.
- The President’s Directive at the Hotel Tacoma
A leaked account of a 1903 banquet reveals how Theodore Roosevelt settled a local political dispute over railroad regulation with a single, sharp rebuke.
- The Great Seattle Boycott of 1885
When local liquor interests tried to starve a newspaper into silence for its stance on Sunday closing laws, the community launched a fierce retaliatory boycott of its own.
- Seattle’s Post-Fire Financial Reckoning
City Comptroller Carson pushes a new bond issue to cover infrastructure costs and fire-related municipal debts.
- One Vote Shy: Washington’s Local Option Bill Goes Down in the Senate
A 17–16 roll call, one absent senator and a promised reconsideration left Washington’s saloon-regulation fight hanging by a thread.
- A Governor Says Order First, Arbitration Later
From Seattle, Washington’s governor endorses Cleveland’s Pullman strike crackdown and argues arbitration must wait until the law is obeyed.
- The Mother of Discontent: Abigail Scott Duniway’s Rally for Rights
In an impassioned 1878 address to the Territorial Convention, activist Abigail Scott Duniway demanded Washington women be granted the vote, framing the domestic 'insurrection' of disenfranchised wives as a parallel to the American Revolution.
- The Single-Tax Candidate Takes the Stage
J. Ercanbrack Jones details his vision for municipal reform, advocating for the taxation of land values over labor and improvements in his bid for Seattle mayor.
- The Renters and the Landless: Seattle’s Early Conflict over Property
An 1876 editorial from the Pacific Tribune calls out wealthy landowners for reaping the benefits of city growth created by the labor of the landless.
- The Independent Candidate Who Fought the Party Machine
After suffering a broken arm, a local editor decries the 'spoils system' and the grip of party caucuses over Washington Territory's first constitutional process.
- The Room That Built a City: Seattle’s Desperate Hunt for Business Space
As the population swells and applications for commercial space hit record highs, city leaders warn that without immediate construction, Seattle will lose its economic dominance to rivals who can offer room.
- The Governor Tells Olympia to Tighten Its Belt
In 1895, Governor McGraw used his message to demand retrenchment, railroad reform and a quick end to the U.S. Senate fight so lawmakers could get to the people's business.
- The Railroad That Stole Our Land: How Seattle’s Interests Blocked Snohomish’s Future
A furious letter to the editor exposes how political maneuvering in Washington D.C. and Seattle kept vital federal lands locked up, denying homesteaders their rightful homes while railroad tycoons played games with territory.
- The Ring is Broken: Seattle’s Republicans Revolt Against the 'Corrupt' Delegate
In a stunning display of local defiance, prominent Seattle citizens and Republican leaders publicly repudiate Territorial Delegate George W. Gillette, accusing him of betrayal and corruption ahead of the 1873 election.
- Seattle's Silver Crusaders Packed the Armory and Demanded a Free-Silver Senator
Populists, Democrats and Republicans found one thing to agree on in 1895: unlimited silver coinage—and a Legislature that would send a silver man to Washington.
- Two Weeks In, Still No Senator: Olympia's Republicans Tire of the Ankeny Fight
The legislature has been in session a fortnight and Washington still has no United States senator. A colleague's insulting letter blows up, the Wilson and Allen camps fold, and a caucus is called to force the thing to an end.
- The Canal Came With a Catch: Seattle Had to Secure the Land
Congress had finally committed to a Lake Washington ship canal, but the money came with a condition: Seattle had to secure a free right-of-way from property owners. In 1894, civic leaders began the campaign that would decide whether the project moved forward.
- 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.
- A Funeral Crowd Calls for a Killer's Neck
Thousands filed past the bodies of Philipina Miller and her child as Seattle police rushed the accused murderer to the county jail to stop a lynching.