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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 4 |
| 1858 | 3 |
| 1859 | 4 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1872 | 8 |
| 1876 | 20 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 22 |
| 1884 | 16 |
| 1885 | 14 |
| 1886 | 17 |
| 1887 | 9 |
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 48 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 39 |
| 1892 | 66 |
| 1893 | 53 |
| 1894 | 66 |
| 1895 | 78 |
| 1898 | 9 |
| 1899 | 16 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 27 |
| 1904 | 29 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 11 |
| 1909 | 44 |
| 1910 | 10 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1914 | 7 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 23 |
| 1917 | 16 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 5 |
| 1924 | 7 |
| 1925 | 5 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
724 stories matching permit
- Spokane Grants the Right to Speak on Its Streets
After two years of fighting, Spokane lets citizens take the soapbox — and the first permit goes to a woman evangelist and slum worker.
- A Court Fight Over Moving the Dead
Andrew O. Freeborn wants a judge to order the health officer to permit the disinterment of Augusta Schmeig Picht from the Masonic cemetery to another lot.
- Tacoma Is Building—and Mostly for People Who Plan to Stay
Building permits jumped 68 percent over 1903, with new homes rising for owners rather than investors.
- The City’s Cruel Gatekeeping of Life
A man lay injured, but the city refused to pay for his emergency care, highlighting a systemic failure in the treatment of the city's vulnerable.
- The Fee Stopping Progress
A citizen writes in to protest the city's building permit tax, arguing it stifles growth rather than ensuring safety.
- The Seattle Building Boom of 1892
A record-breaking month of construction permits signals a massive wave of development in the downtown core.
- The Great Walkout: Soldiers Protest 'Pauperizing' Rules at Seattle Home
Sixty men leave the city's soldiers' home in a mass exodus, citing degrading permit requirements and harsh governance by Col. Leslie.
- The Permit That Died With the Doctor
A Seattle family wanted to move remains out of a valuable cemetery plot. The health board said the paperwork required a physician’s statement—from a doctor who was already dead.
- A Flagman Left Out in the Cold
City council blocks a permit for a shelter at the Great Northern tracks, leaving a worker to face the winter elements alone.
- Temperance Literature by Mail
The Anti-Saloon League pivots to direct mail for those obtaining liquor permits in Eastern Washington.
- The City Council's Permissive Grift
A frustrated fire official reveals that Seattle's fire safety ordinances are being gutted by the very council members who passed them, as they issue private permits to bypass building restrictions.
- The Saloon Turf War: Seattle's 1891 Zoning Scandal
A surprise move by the Board of Aldermen to eliminate limits on where liquor could be sold triggers a fierce public outcry against perceived civic corruption.
- The Rapid Transformation of Pioneer Square
A weekly ledger of building permits reveals a city under construction, capturing the final boom years before the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
- The Embargo on Beef and the Collector of Customs
Tensions rise at Port Angeles over a federal order prohibiting cattle shipments to Victoria, sparking a heated war of words between the Standard and local authorities.
- A Father Arrested for Burying His Child
A grieving father faces legal trouble for failing to secure a formal burial permit after his two-year-old child passed away.
- The Mayor Fires His Police Commissioner in a Fight Over a Den
A vice dispute between Seattle's police chief and one of his commissioners ends with Mayor Phelps wielding the axe.
- Prosecutor Bans Minors From Public Dances
Public dances face strict age enforcement under state law, citing moral concerns.
- The Water Wars of 1899
Seattle's city water department warns residents: follow the strict lawn-watering schedule or lose your access entirely.
- Newport Refuses a Firetrap Home for the Movies
A corrugated-iron picture show proposed beside the Antler Hotel is turned down inside the fire limits, while tent shows draw the council's ire.
- The Fight for Sanitary Food
Tacoma’s club women are spearheading a radical new ordinance to force bakeries and food merchants to meet strict hygiene standards.
- The Water-Sprinkling Scandal
A taxpayer calls out city hall for permitting the wealthy to water their lawns for free while the rest of Tacoma pays.
- Sunday Controversy at the Fruit Fair
A local clergyman denounces the management of the Walla Walla fruit fair for permitting the sale of soft drinks and confections on a Sunday.
- Seattle's Great Tent Crisis
After the Great Fire of 1889, the city struggled to regulate the makeshift shanties and board-and-canvas tents cluttering the city limits.
- The Union Pacific's South Tacoma Tunnel Expansion
City council grants permit for railroad to open tunnel shafts and build freight yards in local wetlands.
- A Railroad Cut Off This Tacoma Mill. Now the City May Give It a New Way In.
The North Shore Lumber Company wants to rebuild its burned plant beyond Old Town, but Northern Pacific condemnation left it without waterfront access. A permit to sluice logs over Alder Street could bring 100 jobs and a 100,000-foot-a-day mill back to the gulch.
Also about this, in other words
- The Building Boom of 1889: Seattle’s Rapid Transformation
A look at the official building permits issued in May 1889, documenting the surge of brick and frame construction that was reshaping the city just weeks before the Great Seattle Fire.