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| Year | Stories |
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30 stories matching sec
- The Knights of Labor’s Bold Bet: Criminalizing the 'Blacklist'
Seattle’s labor leaders draft a radical bill to make it a felony for employers to force workers out of unions.
- The Real Estate Auction That Built Seattle’s First Suburbs
In March 1889, just months after the Great Fire devastated downtown, executors of James Crawford’s estate sold off dozens of city lots in a public auction at Occidental Square. These parcels would become the foundation for neighborhoods like Judkins and Bellevue.
- The Great Mill Auction: A Kingpin’s Empire Divided
In December 1876, the District Court in Seattle ordered the liquidation of a massive timber and land empire owned by A.M. Simpson, offering hundreds of acres and a high-capacity sawmill to the highest bidder.
- The Old Settlers' Legislative Fantasy
In an 1871 satirical 'Act,' a Seattle newspaper mocked the arrival of ambitious newcomers by proposing that long-time residents receive supreme, legally mandated authority.
- Seattle’s First Steam Fire Engine
Facing a growing city's vulnerability, Seattle’s leadership authorized a massive expenditure in 1878 to modernize the local fire brigade.
- Seattle’s First City Hall: A $500 Bill for Front Street
In September 1876, the fledgling city council authorized a payment to George Edwards for rebuilding the cribbing and earthworks on Front Street, marking one of the earliest municipal infrastructure contracts in Seattle's history.
- The Railroad Reaches for Marshall Lake's Mines
Northern Pacific applies for a land patent covering worked mining claims near Marshall Lake, and claim owners prepare to fight.
- The Paper Town in the Canyon
Speculators filed a plat for 'National Park City,' a townsite consisting of 1,960 lots, some located on a sheer, uninhabitable basaltic mountain.
- Jailed for a Malicious Complaint, Freed by the State Supreme Court
A Pierce County jury found George Locke not guilty and decided his accuser, Leonard Permstick, had complained maliciously. The court ordered Permstick to pay $275.85 in costs or stay in jail—until the Washington Supreme Court ruled the commitment void.
- Homesteaders Fight Railroad Land Grab
Settlers at Opera Hall band together to challenge the railroad company's claim to the land they built their homes on.
- Voters Settle Scores at the Polls
Detailed primary results from White Bluffs and Hanford reveal a community restless with local incumbents.
- The City That Vanished: Seattle’s First Real Estate Bubble and the Ghosts of Terry’s Addition
A look back at January 1890, when Seattle’s land boom was in full swing, prices were soaring, and developers like George Dorffel were selling lots in new subdivisions to speculators eager for a quick profit.
- The Struggle for Self-Culture in Snohomish
An 1877 literary society meeting sparks a fierce editorial debate on the necessity of intellectual labor and the dangers of the 'critic' class.
- The Blacklist at Franklin Mine
Striking miners appeal for their jobs after a bitter labor dispute in King County, clashing with the superintendent over claims of systematic discrimination.
- A Wife's Testimony Was Enough: Supreme Court Reverses Divorce Denial
The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a wife's own account of cruelty and habitual drunkenness could justify a divorce, reversing a lower court that had dismissed Nellie Lee's case.
- A Town Organizes a Vigilance Committee to Keep 'Northern Indians' Off Its Shore
Citizens meet at the Court House, resolve that 'no Northern Indians at any time be allowed to land at this place,' and appoint a standing Committee of Vigilance to enforce it.
- The Last Gathering of Seattle’s Founders
Amos Brown, a pioneer who helped shape the city's early identity, is laid to rest in a ceremony attended by nearly every surviving member of Seattle's first generation.
- The Murder That Made Washington Decide Who Counted as Tribal
In 1903 the state Supreme Court upheld Tommy Santiago Howard's manslaughter conviction for killing Kate Arquette on the Puyallup Reservation, ruling that because he had no tribal ties, state court—not federal court—had jurisdiction.
- The Saloon Was Their Paycheck: Everett Labor’s Fight Against Prohibition
In November 1910, Everett’s union locals — cigar makers, brewery workers, bartenders, cooks and waiters — urged a vote for license, warning that Prohibition would throw hundreds out of work and scatter their families.
- Four Sections Burn Along the Pend Oreille
A week-long blaze near Ruby Creek is finally checked, leaving ranchers, timber and a county bridge in ashes—and one firefighter carried ten miles to safety.
- A Pigeon Flew 100 Miles to Report From Mount Rainier
A carrier pigeon from the Starlee-Meeker expedition delivers dispatches, tall trees, trout, and one very sleepy doctor.
- The Ten-Hour Day That Split Seattle’s Streetcar Men
A new state law barred Seattle’s streetcar companies from forcing motormen and conductors to work more than ten hours a day. But some workers petitioned to keep the old schedules, because they were paid by the hour.
- The Wharf King’s Victory: Yesler Wins Millions in Land Battle
Judge Lichtenberg rules that the state cannot seize waterfront property without paying just compensation, halting the Harbor Line Commission and protecting H.L. Yesler’s empire.
- King County Auditor Accused of Padding His Salary with Extra Jobs
A letter to the editor details how Auditor Frank Twichell drew extra pay as purchasing agent, building-fund agent, and legislative lobbyist—all while collecting his regular salary.
- The City Can Tear It Down: The Supreme Court Backs Seattle's Fire Limits
Daniel K. Baxter put up a twenty-foot shell of wooden posts wrapped in corrugated iron inside Seattle's fire limits. The state Supreme Court said the city could knock it down without ever going to court — and municipal building codes came out of it stronger than before.