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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 1 |
21 stories matching terra
- The Clay Under Seattle Built a Million-Dollar Industry
King County clay works turned local deposits into firebrick, paving brick, sewer pipe and architectural terra cotta—winning federal tests and employing hundreds of men.
- Seattle’s Temple of Learning Rises Between Two Lakes
In 1895, contractors raced to finish a $200,000 campus between Union and Washington lakes—complete with copper finials, a gymnasium and a hillside observatory—before the September opening.
- The Sawdust in Your Spice Cabinet
A Seattle newspaper exposé from 1888 reveals that the city's food supply was being systemically poisoned by greed, with sawdust in spices and grease in butter.
- Seattle’s Rebirth After the Great Fire
While the embers of the 1889 Great Fire were still cooling, the city's architects and business leaders immediately began a frenzied, organized effort to rebuild the commercial district in brick and stone.
- The Miracle of the Giant Powder Blast
A laborer describes his harrowing journey through the air after a catastrophic industrial explosion near Puyallup.
- University of Washington's New Campus Takes Shape
After years of litigation and labor strikes, the new university building nears completion as landscape work begins on the grounds.
- A Legislative Committee Finds the University of Washington Packed, Broke, and Worth Building
After touring the cramped old campus and the rising new grounds between Lake Union and Lake Washington, a joint legislative committee urges bonds, more books, a smaller board of regents, and a dry zone around the university.
- The Great Seattle Grade Grind: How City Hall Raised the Floor (and the Cost) of Living
In February 1889, just months after the Great Fire, Seattle’s City Council and Surveyor Scarry announced a massive infrastructure overhaul. By raising street grades by up to four feet in the commercial district, they forced property owners into a costly conformity that would define the city's vertical landscape for decades.
- The 'Dead Horse' Auction of 1892
Hundreds of curious Seattleites crowded a Commercial Street warehouse to bid on the mysterious, unclaimed cargo of the Northern Pacific Express Company, turning forgotten packages into a city-wide gamble.
- A High-Wire Act Above Fourth Street
A building mover narrowly escapes death after being swept off a roof and left dangling from telegraph wires.
- The Power Station That Bet on Newport’s Future
A Chicago engineer brings plans for a fireproof power station at Washington and Pine—and a 30-mile line meant to electrify Newport’s future.
- A Power Station to Light Newport
The Northern Idaho & Montana Power Co. is building a $15,000 fireproof office and substation at Washington and Pine, promising 24-hour electric service within ninety days.
- The Great Seattle Brick Shortage of 1889
As Seattle rebuilt from the ashes of the Great Fire, a local brick supplier defended himself against accusations of price gouging, pinning the city's housing crunch on a simple lack of supply.
- Steaming Through the Puget Sound Boom, Town by Town
A Seattle traveler’s 1883 voyage aboard the Idaho finds crowded wharves, railroad dreams, and real-estate prices high enough to check the very boom they fed.
- Mining in the Naches River Wilderness
Prospectors venture into the rugged Naches mining district, battling difficult terrain and unbridged crossings in search of silver.
- The Dairy Commissioner’s War on Adulterated Food
A Washington dairy official warns that fake honey, poisoned candy, oleomargarine and brewers’ grain are cheating farmers — and demands stronger pure-food laws.
- The Mayor’s Chimneys Are on Fire
Two separate blazes in Tacoma’s South End prompt a frantic response from the city fire department, revealing that even elected officials are not immune to the dangers of defective flues.
- Slapped Down on the Diamond
Tacoma’s baseball team drops to fourth place after a bruising 12-6 loss to the Seattle Siwashes.
- An Aerial Bust at the Snohomish Ball Game
A much-anticipated airplane exhibition turns into a mud-caked failure, but the local baseball game saves the day for the fans.
- The Boomtown Hopes of Marysville, 1885
Before it was a suburban hub, a settler reports back on the 'tender years' of Marysville and the desperate need for roads to connect the new frontier.
- The Banking Titans Building Modern Seattle
A look inside the financial engine driving Seattle’s rapid expansion in the early 1890s through the lens of a newly rising financial institution.
Also about this, in other words
- The Agricultural Transformation of the Skagit Flats
Decades of diking and draining have turned tide lands into some of the most productive agricultural soil in the world.
- Mining Claims vs. Townsites in Republic
A landmark land office ruling clarifies whether land should be used for mining or settlement.
- The Land Grabber of Kittitas Valley
A sick man discovers his homestead has been stolen out from under him while he was confined to his bed.