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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 5 |
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1860 | 3 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1865 | 2 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 19 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 11 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 5 |
| 1883 | 18 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 24 |
| 1886 | 10 |
| 1887 | 16 |
| 1888 | 11 |
| 1889 | 32 |
| 1890 | 16 |
| 1891 | 27 |
| 1892 | 57 |
| 1893 | 84 |
| 1894 | 77 |
| 1895 | 110 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 16 |
| 1903 | 34 |
| 1904 | 35 |
| 1905 | 5 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 14 |
| 1909 | 74 |
| 1910 | 11 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1914 | 8 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 14 |
| 1917 | 9 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 3 |
| 1925 | 3 |
816 stories matching petition
- The Post Office Tug-of-War
White Bluffs residents find themselves caught in a relentless cycle of conflicting petitions regarding the location of their post office.
- Sixty-Five Sign for a Town; Sixteen Try to Take Their Names Back
A petition to incorporate Marcus as a fourth-class town meets a remonstrance: signers want their names stricken, attorneys argue over voter qualifications, and the county board takes the matter under advisement.
- The Saloon Fight Moves to Court: Petition Signatures Challenged
A Valley saloonkeeper tries to block Pend Oreille County’s local-option election, claiming the petition lacks enough valid voters and that many signatures are not genuine.
- The Collapse of the Priest Rapids Irrigation Mutiny
A grassroots effort to dissolve the local irrigation district fails as land owners abandon the petition, fearing the cost of independence.
- The Last Chance for a Legal Drink
As Washington's state 'bone dry' law faces a referendum challenge, officials find the petition drive is losing steam due to duplicate signatures.
- The Political Grudge Match in Rosalia
A legislative seat is caught in a bitter proxy war after a list of locals is circulated to pressure a politician’s vote.
- Tacoma Petitions to Throw Open the Puyallup Reservation
Businessmen, railroad men and politicians circulate petitions to oust the Puyallup Indian agent and dismantle federal restrictions, arguing the reservation's lands and rail routes should be 'opened' — a dispossession dressed as progress.
- 100 Miners Take a Receiver to Court Over Cut Wages—and the Company Store
A petition filed in King County Superior Court says a coal company's receiver cut pay, forced miners to shop at his store, and fired a man who refused to back his candidate for police justice.
- The 'White River Assembly' Takes on the State Senate
A scathing labor petition read aloud in the Washington State Senate sparks both laughter and warnings of political reckoning for those who ignored the working class.
- The Fight for the Ballot Box
A legislative attempt to curb 'professional petition pushers' aims to ensure only legal voters influence state law.
- Dry County? Newport Saloons Take Local Option to Court
Stevens County's rural voters prepare for a no-license election while Newport saloonkeepers challenge the September vote and Springdale's dry petition dies on a technicality.
- The Fire Commissioners' Two Failed Moves to Fire the Chief
Two Seattle fire commissioners tried twice in one meeting to unseat Chief Hunt — first with a citizens' petition, then with a charge that he had lied to get his naturalization papers.
- The Fading Mineral Palace
Citizens petition to remove the aging, unsightly 'Mineral Palace' from Pioneer Place.
- Everett Residents Demand Police Reform
Citizens circulate petitions calling for the removal of the city marshal and a police judge over allegations of corruption and the 'open town' policy.
- The Battle Over Tacoma's Most Notorious 'Hellhole'
Citizens and reform groups rally at City Hall to shutter a local variety theater and saloon decried as a den of depravity.
- Push to Secure Stubblefield Home Faces Minority Resistance
Prominent property owners in Walla Walla are being asked to fund a $10,000 contribution to bring the Stubblefield institution to the county.
- The Hot Linseed Poultice: A Seattle Marriage Ends in Burns and Bankruptcy
When Mrs. Water’s anger boiled over, she didn’t just yell—she slapped a steaming poultice of linseed mush onto her husband’s head. The Superior Court had to decide if this was cruelty or just a bad day.
- A County Seat Fight With More Petition Signers Than Voters
Pacific County commissioners agreed to put the county seat up to a vote — then discovered that South Bend and Sealand had turned in 2,373 signatures from a county with barely 1,500 voters.
- The Drive for Anti-Chinese Ordinances in 1885 Seattle
A local petition sought to bar Chinese laborers from laundry businesses and vegetable peddling, laying the groundwork for a wave of exclusionary legislation.
- The Stolen Petition That Could Have Split Spokane County
In 1883, a push to carve a new county out of Spokane turned ugly when a 350-name petition vanished from a Howard Street law office.
- Neighborhood Mobilizes to Block New Saloon
A massive community petition forces the city to deny a liquor license on Tacoma Avenue.
- The Campaign to Push Japanese Workers Out of Mukilteo
The 'All-American League' sends a petition to the Crown Lumber Company demanding the dismissal of immigrant workers.
- The Street Cleanup Petition
Business owners bypass the city council to force a pre-holiday cleanup of Kennewick's streets.
- The Neighborhood Siege on Commercial Street
A century and a half ago, a massive petition of Seattle residents demanded the city ‘cleanse’ a house of ‘contagious pollution,’ setting a precedent for civic moral panics.
- The Fight for a Living Wage on Seattle's Streetcars
Facing a massive consolidation of rail companies, Seattle transit workers organize to demand a guaranteed minimum wage.