Research the archive
Narrow 25,724 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 16 |
| 1904 | 1 |
32 stories matching symon
- The Skagit Stand-off: A Survey Interrupted
When federal surveyors moved onto Skagit lands without a treaty, they were met by 150 armed warriors ready to defend their sovereignty.
- Charting the Future of the Columbia River
Lieutenant T.W. Symons releases a landmark report on making the Upper Columbia navigable for trade, mining, and agriculture.
- Olympia Insists on a Harbor Line Big Enough for Its Future
After a correspondent misreports local opinion, Olympians say they back Capt. Symons' harbor plan—but want the state to extend a broad waterway all the way to Fourth Street.
- The Untamable Columbia
Army engineers dismiss dreams of a navigable river highway, citing fatal drops and impossible terrain.
- Log Rafts Choke the Stillaguamish, and the Steamboats Can’t Get Through
Residents along the river complain that booms of logs are sealing off navigation at the mouth; a federal engineer threatens prosecution if the loggers do not clear the way.
- The Federal Push for Puget Sound Navigation
Engineers lobby for federal funds to clear the Nooksack River and build lighthouses across the Washington coast.
- Violence in the Coal Camps
A miner is shot near Carbonado, sparking rumors of community lawlessness.
- The Engineers' Plan for Grays Harbor
A government report details an ambitious $150,000 scheme to redirect the Chehalis River's flow, potentially deciding the fate of competing town sites.
- Seattle's Tide-Flat Canal Waits on St. Louis Money
An Army engineer says dredges could be at work by March, but only if St. Louis capitalists approve the plan to fill the tide flats and cut the Lake Washington waterway.
- The Dredgers Were Coming: Seattle Builds Its Tide Flats
Engineers surveyed bulkheads, plotted fill, and prepared to bring two big dredgers to the Duwamish tide flats—while speculators rushed applications to buy the new land.
- The Great Canal Vision of 1894
Captain Symons reports on the ambitious, multi-million dollar proposal to carve a ship canal through Seattle's south end to connect Puget Sound with Lake Washington.
- How Everett Got Its Harbor Money—by Telegrams and Western Nerve
A seven-month lobbying campaign, a reluctant War Department and a $10,000 dredging appropriation: inside the fight to make Everett a deep-water port.
- The $275,000 Plan to Dredge Olympia Into a Deep-Water Port
In 1892, a federal engineer proposed cutting a 12-foot channel through two miles of tide flats so ocean steamers could reach Fourth Street. The price tag was $275,000—and a bet on Olympia’s future.
- St. Louis Money Comes to Dig Seattle's South Canal
A telegram to Eugene Semple announced that the Ames brothers and their St. Louis backers were on their way to take charge of the South Canal, as engineers surveyed the tide flats and a dredger headed west.
- The Dredgers Are Coming: Seattle's Canal Project Finally Starts Moving
After years of financing delays, engineers promised to begin bulkheads and surveys on the south canal—and to haul giant hydraulic dredgers north to reshape the tide flats.
- Seattle Starts Building Its Own Ground
Contractors drive the first piles in the tide flats, launching a massive fill project that will remake the city’s waterfront and industrial south end.
- The Settlement of the Colville Valley
An engineer’s report argues that the Colville Valley is held back by the presence of Indigenous and mixed-race populations.
- The Industrial Remaking of Everett's Waterfront
Federal authorities grant permission for a massive engineering project to wall off the Snohomish River delta, transforming a shallow tidal area into a deep-water harbor for industrial commerce.
- The Ditch That Would Cut Seattle in Two
Washington's engineers begin staking the route of the government's Lake Washington canal, and condemnation suits are expected to follow on their heels.
- The Canal That Would Reshape Seattle
A federal engineer brings word that St. Louis money is in place for a Lake Washington ship canal, with locks, dredges, and jobs promised within four years.
- The Towns That Were Only on the Map
A federal engineer surveyed the Okanogan in 1895 and recommended improving the river. What he described was a mining country waiting for a boom that had already gone bust.
- Seattle Bet Everything on a Ship Canal—and the Clock Was Running Out
For forty years Seattle had dreamed of linking Lake Washington to Puget Sound. By April 1895, with nearly $50,000 raised in two days and the state preparing to sell the tide lands, the city faced a make-or-break moment.
- Seattle Begins Filling Its Tide Flats
Surveyors lay the base line and piledrivers start a brush-and-earth bulkhead along Railroad Avenue, turning watery flats into buildable ground.
- The $3 Million Scheme to Turn Seattle's Tide Flats into Dry Land
A private company plans to dredge the Duwamish and fill Elliott Bay's mudflats — paid not in cash but in land and liens — while St. Louis money waits to see the ground before it bets.
- The Navy's $600,000 Question: Was the Dry Dock Built on Bad Piles?
A special commission of Army engineers is rushed to Puget Sound to test whether the navy's new dry dock was built on bad piling and inferior concrete.