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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 6 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1863 | 2 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1872 | 8 |
| 1876 | 37 |
| 1877 | 31 |
| 1878 | 18 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 7 |
| 1883 | 31 |
| 1884 | 14 |
| 1885 | 21 |
| 1886 | 10 |
| 1887 | 18 |
| 1888 | 23 |
| 1889 | 78 |
| 1890 | 24 |
| 1891 | 72 |
| 1892 | 114 |
| 1893 | 93 |
| 1894 | 96 |
| 1895 | 101 |
| 1897 | 8 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 22 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1903 | 71 |
| 1904 | 55 |
| 1905 | 9 |
| 1907 | 5 |
| 1908 | 14 |
| 1909 | 72 |
| 1910 | 20 |
| 1911 | 33 |
| 1912 | 9 |
| 1914 | 6 |
| 1915 | 9 |
| 1916 | 23 |
| 1917 | 16 |
| 1918 | 3 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 6 |
| 1928 | 1 |
1,202 stories matching system
- Ballard Asks: Should the City Own Its Own Water?
On the eve of a $75,000 bond vote, Ballard weighs a public water works against the private company that holds the taps — and the mills that built their own supply rather than wait.
- Seattle’s Water Fight: Pumping Queen Anne or Building for the Future
As Seattle’s reservoirs strain, Superintendent Andrew Jackson argues that waste, not supply, is the problem—and that the city’s pumping system is only a stopgap until a Cedar River gravity plan can be built.
- The Great Sewer Debate of 1890
North Yakima’s council faces a high-stakes decision on a controversial new pipe system.
- Tacoma Weighs Water Security
City council members reject Seattle’s gravity water model in favor of local, closed-well systems at South Tacoma.
- Chief Jackson’s Quest for a Better Police Dispatch
Seattle’s Chief of Police returns from a fact-finding mission to Portland and San Francisco, hoping to import a superior telephone patrol system to curb the static and confusion of the local line.
- The Man Who Claimed to Cure What Killed Washington
A Seattle physician unveils a 'new system' of medicine that he says has cured his own chronic ailments—and predicts the end of the old medical establishment.
- The Broken Promise of the City Water System
Aberdeen’s municipal water works are failing, and the city’s struggle to move residents away from private systems reveals a tangle of missing infrastructure and unfair billing.
- The New Secret Ballot
How Washington's new voting system is designed to curb the corrupt practice of vote-buying.
- The Case for Universal Schooling in the Territory
An early local advocate argues that education, not incarceration, is the only path toward ending poverty and crime in the Washington Territory.
- The Quest for a Clean City
A proposed 'Liernur System' could turn Seattle's sewage into marketable fertilizer while solving a desperate public health crisis.
- A Call for Water System Infrastructure
With neighboring towns leveled by fire, the editor urges Kennewick to move beyond 'curb stone philosophy' and professionally assess the town's water security.
- The Looming Water Crisis
A 1893 report warns that Seattle's pumping system is failing and proposes the Cedar River gravity system as the only way to meet the city's future needs.
- Everett Pushes for a City-Owned Water System
Advocates argue that water is a public necessity, not a commodity for private corporate profit.
- Ballard Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Water System Bonds
Residents of Ballard soundly defeat a $71,000 bond proposal for the Wagner steam well water system due to mineral concerns.
- The Human Cost of Efficiency
Labor leaders speak out against the 'Taylor system,' arguing that industrial time-management schemes treat men like machine parts and lead to physical decline.
- The Dennys Consolidate Seattle's Transit Monopoly
By acquiring the Front Street cable lines, the Denny family gains control of the city’s major streetcar systems, shifting the north-end transit future toward electric power.
- The Battle for School Sanitation
A bitter feud erupts between Seattle's school board and the board of health over the safety of 'dry closet' systems in public classrooms.
- The Auditor's Ledger: Efficiency and the Salary System
Chehalis County Auditor Geo. W. Boyington defends his record against the backdrop of the transition from fee-based to salaried public service.
- The Fight Over Tribal Land in the Path of Progress
Booster newspapers in 1889 editorialized against the reservation system, calling for the seizure of Indigenous land to satisfy a hungry real estate market.
- The $25,000 House That Wasn't: Seattle’s First Sewer Bidding War
As the city prepares to build its modern sewer system, contractors are already fighting over the lucrative contracts, revealing how quickly public infrastructure deals become private fortunes.
- The Great Alarm Debate
Walla Walla’s City Council considers whether to invest in a modern fire alarm system or rely on an improvised network of city telephones.
- The Call to Abolish the Jury System
A territorial editor argues that the jury system is a cumbersome obstacle to justice in a lawless frontier.
- Seattle's Water System Passes Its First Big Test
A morning fire reveals that recent upgrades to the city's hydrant system are already paying dividends for public safety.
- Walla Walla Battles for Public Water
A landslide vote rejects private control in favor of a new municipal gravity system.
- The Walla Walla Council's Fire Alarm Debate
City leaders weigh the cost of a new fire alarm system against the growing municipal budget.