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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 6 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 4 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1865 | 2 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 11 |
| 1876 | 70 |
| 1877 | 67 |
| 1878 | 44 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 15 |
| 1882 | 13 |
| 1883 | 110 |
| 1884 | 67 |
| 1885 | 67 |
| 1886 | 30 |
| 1887 | 33 |
| 1888 | 50 |
| 1889 | 95 |
| 1890 | 18 |
| 1891 | 79 |
| 1892 | 193 |
| 1893 | 131 |
| 1894 | 132 |
| 1895 | 163 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 12 |
| 1899 | 25 |
| 1900 | 8 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 67 |
| 1904 | 50 |
| 1905 | 15 |
| 1907 | 7 |
| 1908 | 50 |
| 1909 | 71 |
| 1910 | 12 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 19 |
| 1915 | 27 |
| 1916 | 52 |
| 1917 | 11 |
| 1918 | 4 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 15 |
| 1924 | 16 |
| 1925 | 6 |
| 1929 | 1 |
1,891 stories matching road
- The Case for a Wagon Road Over Stevens Pass
A Skykomish correspondent pitches a $40,000 public road from Seattle to Tolt and over the old Great Northern tote road, so farmers needn't pay the railroad to cross one hill.
- 'Only Another Name for a Sort of Annual Picnic': Washington's Road-Tax Fight
A good-roads convention hears that farmers resent paying their road tax in cash instead of working it out, that the money vanishes into 'graft or rake-off,' and that Spokane County's section-line roads were laid out so badly they must be rebuilt from scratch.
- The Fight to Turn Snoqualmie Pass Into a State Highway
Seattle and King County boosters petition Olympia to convert the old toll road from North Bend over the Cascades into a first-class route for cattle, crops and travel.
- Newport's Road Race for the Calispel Valley Trade
As rival towns lobbied for a $30,000 state road, Newport banked on a new railroad and steamboats to secure the rich valley's business.
- The Road That Was Supposed to Build the Puget Sound Country
A canvasser reports that Seattle merchants back a permanent state road to Tacoma, promising winter travel, jobs for working men and a rush of small-holding settlement.
- The Battle for Lake Union: A War of Words Over Seattle’s First Public Road
In May 1877, a bitter public feud erupted between the newly appointed Supervisor of Road District No. 1 and a group of influential local voters over the legal authority to build a road along the west shore of Lake Union.
- Samuel Hill Warns Seattle Would 'Die Like Rats in a Trap' Without Highways
As Congress weighs the Latimer and Brownlow road-funding bills, the Seattle utility magnate and son-in-law of James J. Hill makes the case that paved highways out of the city are a matter of survival, not comfort.
- Seattle's 1877 Plea: Build a Wagon Road Over the Cascades Before Portland Steals the Inland Empire
With no railroad yet across the mountains, a Seattle newspaper argued the city's future depended on a wagon road to Yakima—before Portland grabbed the inland trade forever.
- The Road Less Traveled: Seattle’s Shameful Contrast with Victoria’s Fine Highways
In 1876, the local press lambasted King County’s broken road system, praising British Columbia’s turnpikes as a model for Seattle’s own stagnant development.
- The Fight Over the Road Through the Cascades
A state wagon-road bill sets Cascade Pass against Slate Creek, with mining claims, Lake Chelan freight and a $33,000 price tag hanging in the balance.
- Northport Wants to Know Who Moved Its Road
A legislative road award to Northport was rerouted through Colville, and the Northport Republican lays the blame on a surveyor's report and county commissioners.
- The Great County Road Grift
A skeptical resident argues that the proposed county road bond is a pork-barrel scheme that ignores the actual needs of the region's infrastructure.
- The Struggle for Better Roads in 1870s King County
Frustrated residents call for a centralized superintendent to replace the inefficient and disjointed road-building system of the Washington Territory.
- Gov. McGraw Opens the State Road Convention at Olympia
Delegates from every county gather in the capital to plan a statewide campaign for better roads — and to demand that the political parties finally take up internal improvements.
- The Land Grab That Built Tacoma: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Stole Millions of Acres
A furious editorial in the Seattle Star exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad’s scheme to misappropriate public lands for a private coal line, arguing that the company is using legal loopholes to steal from settlers in King and Snohomish counties.
- The Alderman, the Cable Road, and the Broken Promise to Double-Track Yesler
A former cable-road owner accuses a Seattle alderman of slander and demands the city force the Yesler Avenue line to honor its franchise and double-track Yesler and Jackson.
- The Maze of the Snake River Hills
Early road surveys were so poorly planned that settlers were forced to build their own paths, leading to a tangled web of private property and impassable public routes.
- Two Neighbors Decide to Build Their Own Road to Town
Farmers of the Calispel valley and two men along the route plan a new road that skips the Bobier hill grade and shaves two miles off the haul to Newport — if the town will chip in.
- The Millionaire’s Gamble: Ryan & McDonald Awarded the $3M Rail Contract
New York contractors secure the massive deal to connect Seattle and Spokane Falls in just two years, promising to unlock Eastern Washington's grain and timber wealth.
- The Desperado Who Vanished Into the Brush
A King County manhunt closes in on escaped murderer Thomas Blanck—until a dark ambush near Black River Junction lets him slip away behind his partner’s raised hands.
- King County Lawmakers Want to Cut the Budget—and Railroad Rates
Ahead of the 1901 legislative session, King County’s representatives outline a shared agenda: slash state expenses, abolish useless commissions, lower railroad freight and passenger rates, and create a state grain inspector to protect farmers from brokers.
- The Struggle for a Road from Duwamish to Seattle
A local settler demands a plank road to town, arguing that poor infrastructure is stifling growth and discouraging new arrivals.
- The Battle for the Benton County Roads
Kennewick business leaders protest a county road project, arguing that their tax dollars are being diverted to build infrastructure in empty, undeveloped territory.
- A Road Through the Barn: Drunk Commissioners and a Judge's Rebuke
A Snohomish County road crew moves to cut a highway through T. Larson's house and barn; testimony says two commissioners were too drunk to inspect the route.
- A Sinking Buggy, a Borrowed Team, and a Reservation About to Open
In 1892 a newspaperman packed his wife and infant into a rickety buggy to cross the soon-to-open Colville Reservation, fording the Kettle River and leaning on Native families along the way.
Also about this, in other words
- Road Rights and Rural Disputes
A landowner threatens to close a long-standing public road, sparking a legal and neighborly conflict in sections 9 and 10.
- The Art of Keeping Kennewick’s Roads Smooth
A government highway engineer explains why the secret to durable rural roads isn't just construction, but the constant, rhythmic use of the 'road drag.'
- The Farmers' Road Rebellion
When fencing blocked access to town, the local farmers took the road-building into their own hands.
- The Struggle for the Road
Finley residents demand action after a state highway project fails under heavy traffic.
- The Struggle for Access on the Wishkah
As Aberdeen grows, city leadership faces the hard reality that farms cannot thrive without roads, turning the focus from waterways to infrastructure.
- The Road to Prosperity or a Taxpayer's Trap?
Prominent Aberdeen citizens clash over a contentious bond measure for county-wide road development.
- The Road to Nowhere: Seattle’s Infrastructure Crisis of 1876
As the city grows, its roads are crumbling into impassable mud, endangering farmers and merchants alike. A local editorial demands immediate action before the 'corduroy' turns to chaos.
- The Campaign for Better Roads in King County
As railroads connect cities, local leaders argue that the 'wretched' state of public wagon roads is strangling the rural economy and stifling growth.