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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1892 | 5 |
| 1893 | 13 |
| 1894 | 29 |
| 1895 | 16 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
65 stories matching thomson
- The Beacon Hill Sewer Scandal
A taxpayer alleges that City Engineer Thomson’s engineering choices were costly, unskillful, and a 'woeful piece of folly.'
- The Siege of the City Engineer’s Office
When an incoming engineer faced a stubborn incumbent, it took a locksmith, a drill, and a policeman to settle the power struggle.
- The Sewer Scandal: A Whistleblower’s Warning
City Engineer Thomson testified that he repeatedly warned officials against using sub-standard, 'rotten' brick in Seattle’s sewer construction, only to be ignored as the project fell into corruption and mismanagement.
- Seattle’s Sewers Running Into a Budget Deficit
City Engineer R.H. Thomson warns that original appropriations are insufficient to complete critical sewer tunnel work, suggesting design modifications to save money.
- The Real Fight at City Hall Was Never About the Nominee — It Was About the City Engineer
A routine appointment to the board of public works turned into a proxy war over R. H. Thomson, whose appointment a year earlier had ended Edwin Hall Warner's brief and bitter tenure as Seattle's city engineer.
- The Battle for the Mud Flats
City Engineer R.H. Thomson warns that the Seattle & Montana Railway’s proposed terminal layout would block the city's future industrial access and sabotage the drainage of the tide flats.
- The Engineering Romance of the Lake Union Sewer
City Engineer Thomson details the immense technical and financial struggle to build the infrastructure of a growing Seattle.
- Everett Voters Oust Leadership
Citizens of Everett successfully recalled their mayor and commissioner for failing to address vice and corporate taxation.
- The Sewer Scandal: Seattle Engineer Fired for Refusing Corrupt Bricks
A political machine ousts City Engineer R.H. Thomson to bypass safety standards, sparking fears of city infrastructure collapse.
- Seattle’s Crumbling Infrastructure Crisis
City Engineer R.H. Thomson warns that the city’s aging wooden box sewers are on the verge of collapse, threatening the streets above.
- City Engineer Fired Amidst Political Pressure
A storm of public indignation follows the board of public works' decision to remove the city engineer at the behest of shadowy political 'wreckers.'
- Seattle’s Rotten Sewer System Needs Replacement
City Engineer R.H. Thomson warns that downtown’s decade-old wooden sewers are a 'menace to the roadway' and proposes a major overhaul.
- Seattle's Broken Sewers Were Shoveled to Pieces, Engineer Says
City Engineer Thomson rejects the explosion theory and blames wet clay clods and soft-burned pipe for fractures under Kenny Street.
- Pike Street Runs Into a Lake: The Man Hired to Untangle Seattle's Eight-Named Streets
In 1895 the city handed City Engineer Thomson the worst street-naming mess on the Pacific Coast — five Cedar streets, three Adams, four Elliotts — and one road with eight different names. Then the ladies of Queen Anne Hill went to war over who got to be Highland Avenue.
- The Plot to Fire the Engineer Behind Seattle’s Sewer Tunnels
Democratic operatives wanted Reginald H. Thomson’s job for a patronage appointee. Mayor Ronald threatened to make them pay.
- City Engineer Summarily Fired in 'Partisan' Power Grab
In an unusual late-day meeting of the Board of Public Works, the City Engineer was removed from office, prompting accusations that the municipal government had been turned into a patronage machine.
- Engineering a Solution for the Fourteenth Street Slide
City Engineer Thomson outlines an expensive plan to halt the recurring, dangerous earth movements in the Beacon Hill district.
- After Court Fight, Seattle Tries Again to Bill Yesler Avenue Property Owners
City Engineer Thomson files a new assessment roll for grading Yesler Avenue, shifting $21,053.58 onto abutting owners and $16,762.16 onto the city.
- The Fight Over Who Owns Seattle's Water
Promoters offered to build a gravity system and sell the city millions of gallons—if Seattle let them run it, with an option to buy it back later.
- The City's Clever Solution for a Tricky Seattle Hillside
Engineer R.H. Thomson avoids expensive cutting by designing a split-level street for View Street, satisfying residents and the city council.
- The Cable Car Standoff
A proposed sewer project threatens to paralyze Seattle's transit, pitting the city's public works against the cable car company.
- The Great Seattle Streetcar Consolidation
A multi-million dollar maneuver promises to unify the city's competing electric lines, potentially abandoning local power-houses in a massive quest for operational efficiency.
- Pike Street Property Owners Foot Most of a $55,000 Paving Bill
The city engineer split the cost of paving Pike Street between Seattle and the abutting owners; the contractor was ready to start work.
- The Streets Seattle Was About to Give Away
A city council committee votes to vacate waterfront streets south of Charles Street, and the city engineer warns that private tide-land leases could cut Seattle off from deep water.
- Who Was Blowing Up Seattle's New Sewers?
City engineers find more than 200 broken pipe lengths underground and suspect dynamite, labor grudges, or business sabotage.