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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1910 | 1 |
14 stories matching topograph
- The Vision for a Central Park
Superintendent Schwagerl plans to transform a forty-acre ridge tract into an exposition of native Washington flora and a scenic reservoir.
- The Ghost Island of Arcadia
A squatter fights for the right to claim a six-acre island that the federal government officially claims doesn't exist.
- The Bid to Connect Yakima to the Rail Hub
Portland and Omaha capitalists promise a new railroad line if North Yakima residents provide a $60,000 land bonus.
- Great Northern Right-of-Way Case Resumes
Railroad giants clash over terminal access, threatening to destroy the city’s existing shipping infrastructure.
- The First Real Map of Seattle
Before the city could be built, it had to be measured—an 1876 engineering project that defined the street grades of early downtown.
- The 1876 Pitch: Why Seattle Was Bound to Boom
A booster’s argument from the pages of 1876 explains why the town was destined to become the 'leading city of the northern coast'—and why land speculators could never stop it.
- The Canal That Never Was: How Island Residents Tried to Cut Through the Sound
In 1892, residents of Vashon and Maury Islands held a rally to propose digging a canal through the portage between their islands, aiming to shorten travel times to Seattle and Tacoma.
- Ione's Editor Wants Stevens County Split — and Newport Can Have the Temporary Seat
As the Pend Oreille valley booms on the new I. & W. N. railroad, the Ione Record argues the east side deserves its own county, with a scrap to the finish over where the courthouse finally lands.
- The Plot to Carve a New Territory Out of Eastern Washington and Idaho
As the Coeur d'Alene mines boom, Spokane Falls pushes to become the capital of a breakaway territory—and the railroad towns are fighting back.
- The University’s Wish List: New Departments, New Money
In 1895, UW regents asked King County legislators for laboratories, professors and a geological survey—and argued that the whole state would benefit.
- The Town That Grew in Ninety Days—and Then Waited for the Railroad
In 1890, promoters carved Anacortes out of the Fidalgo Island forest, sold lots at galloping prices, and promised a transcontinental rail terminal. Two years later, the trains still stopped short and the company wharf was closed to the public.
- The Boomer Who Lied About the Gold Fields
Spokane Falls' paper takes a Minnesota editor to task for a wildly inaccurate account of the Coeur d'Alene mines — and in doing so lays bare the whole machinery of Western town-site hype.
- A Valley Drowns Every Spring—and One Farmer Wants a Better Dike
A correspondent warns that the Pend Oreille freshet has wrecked $50,000 worth of Calispel Valley crops—and argues the proposed diking districts are too piecemeal to save the basin.
- Seattle's Bid to Be the Liverpool of America
In 1895, boosters imagined a Lake Washington ship canal turning Puget Sound into a freshwater harbor for world commerce, coal trade, and naval power.