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1. The Suffragist in the Hall: How One Woman’s Plea Shook Washington’s Constitutional Convention

   In the sweltering heat of 1878, a delegation from Seattle petitioned the territorial convention for women's voting rights. Mrs. Dunaway was invited to speak, delivering an eloquent appeal that momentarily softened the hearts of the 'sage' delegates before the vote closed.

   Mar 1, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

2. Heatwave Keeps Walla Walla Sweltering

   After the weather observer's forecast for a cooling storm fails, frustrated locals turn to unconventional cooling methods.

   Jun 11, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyStrange But True

3. The Heat That Broke the Girls: A Seattle Summer of Hysteria

   In June 1902, a sweltering afternoon in downtown Seattle turned a garment factory into a scene of mass panic as workers collapsed from heat prostration.

   Jun 16, 1899The Seattle StarNelson Street, Seattle, King CountyWork & Pay · Disasters

4. The Open-Air Slumber of Seattle's Waterfront

   When the summer heat turned tenement apartments into 'human lumber-boxes,' thousands of Seattle residents—men, women, and children alike—sought respite by camping overnight on the exposed, city-owned piers.

   Aug 25, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerAlaskan Way, Seattle, King CountyHousing & Rent · Strange But True

5. Smallpox Fears Disrupt Trains and Border Crossings

   As smallpox cases spiked in British Columbia, Seattleites feared the contagion was crossing the border via Indian canoes and passenger trains.

   Jul 17, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Exclusion & Resistance · Disasters

6. The Great Burn of 1885: A Summer of Ash and Loss

   While Seattle sweltered, the timberlands north of the city were consumed by an unprecedented wildfire season, leaving behind a trail of homelessness, tragedy, and destruction.

   Jul 10, 1885Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSnohomish River, Snohomish, Snohomish CountyDisasters

7. The President’s Dust Storm: Roosevelt’s Outburst at Whitman College

   On a sweltering Monday in May 1903, Teddy Roosevelt nearly derailed his own parade in Walla Walla, demanding the military stop marching through clouds of dust that coated him and his party.

   May 27, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyStrange But True

8. The Canal That Would Make Seattle an Island

   In 1883, surveyors proposed locks and canals linking Lake Union and Lake Washington to tidewater—so coal could move by water and Seattle could 'practically stand on an island.'

   Aug 5, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerLake Union, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

9. The Greasy Pole Gambit: Seattle’s Summer of Slapstick and Sweat

   On a sweltering July evening in 1889, thousands gathered at the foot of Madison Street not for politics or protest, but to watch three men fail spectacularly at climbing an oiled pole—a moment of pure, unadulterated civic joy.

   Jul 5, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMadison Street, Front Street, Yesler Avenue, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

10. The Perilous Steam Bath of 1876

    A Nevadan visitor to a Seattle Turkish bathhouse finds himself in a comedic, sweltering hostage situation over the reputation of his famous family name.

    Dec 16, 1876The Daily IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

11. The Summer Escape to Toll Gate

    As Walla Walla swelters, hundreds of residents find refuge in the mountain pines, transforming the historic Toll Gate into a bustling 'city of canvas.'

    Aug 14, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyStrange But True

12. The Man Who Cut His Hand to Save It: A Snohomish Logging Camp Tragedy

    In the sweltering heat of July 1877, a laborer at Hollert’s logging camp suffered a gruesome accident that required immediate surgical intervention in town.

    Jul 21, 1877The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyWork & Pay

13. The Great Seattle Heatwave of 1876: Sunstroke Claims Lives as City Swelters

    While the nation fixates on Custer’s Last Stand and political deadlocks in Washington D.C., Seattle is locked in a silent, deadly battle against an unrelenting July heatwave that is proving fatal to its residents.

    Jul 15, 1876Puget Sound DispatchSeattle, King County

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