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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 5 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 13 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 4 |
| 1887 | 6 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 15 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 25 |
| 1893 | 22 |
| 1894 | 15 |
| 1895 | 18 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 10 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 5 |
| 1909 | 13 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1925 | 2 |
215 stories matching torn
- Sidewalks Torn Up and Abandoned
Tacoma residents vent frustration as contractors rip up streets and leave them barricaded for months without completion.
- City Orders Poorly Laid Paving Ripped Up
A commissioner rejects the work of the Barber Asphalt Company for insufficient concrete foundations on North End streets.
- An 1854 Storehouse, a Saloon, and a Building on Wheels: Seattle’s Old Blocks Give Way
As Schwabacher Bros. cleared Mill Street for a new brick block, an 1854 storehouse with a saloon past was torn down and another old building was rolled toward the waterfront.
- The Perils of the Cable Tracks
A local businessman calls out the street railway company for leaving hazardous, unfinished construction in the heart of downtown.
- The Riotous Destruction of a Home
When a house caught fire, neighbors and bystanders didn't just help extinguish the flames—they tore the home apart.
- The Narrow Escape of John Long
A young man is nearly killed after being dragged fifty feet by a train at the Chehalis depot.
- The Great Sidewalk Standoff
Tacoma residents vent frustration at contractors who leave streets in ruins during the long-awaited public improvement projects.
- The Great Escape: Two Prisoners Vanish from Seattle’s Basement Jail
In a display of audacity and desperation, two men held on smuggling and liquor charges crawled through a torn-off board in a water closet to flee the U.S. Marshal’s improvised prison beneath the Clancy Building.
- Forty-Three Days of Gales, Then a Jury-Rigged Schooner Limps Into Port Townsend
Sails torn to ribbons and gear twisted, the three-masted schooner Buhne makes port after a voyage that should have taken three weeks and took six.
- Tragedy in the Wheat Fields
Industrial accidents and barroom brawls take a heavy toll on rural laborers in Eastern Washington.
- A Day Trip to Steptoe Butte Ends in Tragedy
A pleasure trip to the summit of Steptoe Butte turns to horror when a spooked team of horses destroys the hack, leaving passengers severely injured.
- The Railway Reaches the Waterfront
New rail lines carve a path through the heart of the city’s industrial waterfront, displacing old businesses and promising a new era of commerce.
- The Newport Hardware Man Who Went Through Johnstown — and Kept the River Mud to Prove It
In his store window, E. E. Reid displays a gilded St. George torn from a clock and a rocking chair pulled from the 1889 Johnstown flood — silt still hardened in the crevices — and jokes that he is still selling hardware because the flood only went through him, not over him.
- Narrow Escape at the Rock Crusher
A local official survives a gruesome industrial accident after being caught in machinery at a rock crusher site.
- City Inspector Cracks Down on Defective Chimneys
Building Inspector Hebblethwaite condemns six chimneys in a single week for fire safety violations.
- Farm Accident Leads to Serious Injury
A broken wire on an irrigation ditcher causes a violent workplace accident for a local farmer.
- A Threshing Machine Tragedy
A farm worker suffers a horrific injury after falling into a threshing machine near Spokane.
- The Beachcomber's Grim Find
A duck hunter discovers a severed foot on the shores of Useless Bay, leaving behind a mystery that would never be solved.
- Trapped in the Gears
A farm worker is severely injured in a gruesome accident while operating a header in the fields near Walla Walla.
- The Miracle of the Scalped Man
A brush with death on the frontier: a survivor recounts the chilling moment he was scalped by Indians and miraculously saved by his traveling party.
- Tragedy at the Black Diamond Sewer Pipe Works
A boiler explosion in the works at Black Diamond Landing resulted in one death and multiple fatal injuries.
- The Crumbling Sidewalk of James Street
For three weeks, a gaping hole on James Street has left residents navigating a mess, leaving neighbors to wonder if the city has forgotten the street commissioner exists.
- Accused Murderer Seeks Trial on Puyallup Reservation
Jacky Smokalem survives a suicide attempt while awaiting trial for the murder of his wife.
- A Painful Mishap at the Mill
While working in the busy industrial quarter of Seattle, a laborer suffers a horrific injury to his arm.
- The City That Forgot Its Sidewalks: Seattle’s Shameful Neglect of Cherry Street
In October 1878, the Seattle Daily Intelligencer blasted local property owners for leaving a major commercial intersection in a state of dangerous disrepair, highlighting the early struggle between private neglect and public safety.