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27 stories matching traction
- Seattle's Streets Were Made of Wood. The Fight to Pave Them Was On.
A City Council vote for brick on Pike Street signaled the end of makeshift plank roads—if Seattle could stomach the first cost.
- A Former Superior Court Judge Says the Streetcar Tracks Ate His Front Yard
John C. Stallcup wants $6,000 from Tacoma, arguing the city let the Pacific Traction Company double-track Cliff Avenue past his two South Fifth Street lots without so much as asking — and left private land doing the work of a public street.
- The Struggle for Lynden's Main Street
Business leaders and the city council clash with the Whatcom County Traction Co. over plans to lay tracks through town.
- A Grassroots Rail Line Planned for Whatcom County
Granges in Ferndale and Custer initiate a cooperative traction railway project, with Lynden and neighboring towns invited to extend the line.
- Tacoma Residents Complain of Noisy, Dilapidated Streetcars
Mayor Linck demands action against the Pacific Traction Company as citizens protest the jarring noise of 'triangular' wheels.
- The Land Grab That Built Seattle: How Indian Reserves Held Back the City
In 1877, local editors railed against federal land policies that reserved vast tracts of fertile Washington Territory for Native American use, arguing these 'monopolies' stifled white settlement and speculation.
- The Armory Uprising: Seattle’s Battle for Public Transit
As the City Council prepares to vote on a controversial 40-year franchise for private street railways, citizens are mobilizing for a mass meeting at the Armory, demanding municipal ownership over corporate profit.
- The Political Brawl of 1885
As Seattle prepared for a high-stakes municipal election, a chaotic 'Business Men’s' rally struggled to gain traction against the reformist 'Law and Order' movement, exposing deep class and moral divides in the young city.
- Bags of Gold and a Streetcar Auction in Tacoma
A sheriff's auction outside the Pierce County courthouse transfers the Point Defiance end of the street railway to General Electric for $82,000—with $100,000 in gold sitting in a hack.
- Spokane Suffragists Bring the Fight to Everett’s Union Hall
Two organizers from Spokane bridge the gap between industrial labor struggles and the demand for women's suffrage.
- The Socialist Surge
Everett voters deliver a shock to the political establishment as the Socialist vote gains massive traction.
- The Rising Voice of the Labor Movement in 1885
As Seattle's local assembly of the Knights of Labor gains traction, General Master Workman T.V. Powderly outlines a vision for the 'complete emancipation of the slaves of the earth' from the tyranny of capital.
- Streetcars Coming to Lynden
A new franchise agreement promises to connect Lynden via electric rail by next spring.
- Industrial Tragedy Claims Everett Lineman
W. S. Hardy, a well-known local electrician, died following a fatal workplace accident while stringing high-tension wires in Spokane.
- Toledo's Bicycle Railroad: A Small Town Bets on a Two-Wheeled Future
Toledo incorporates a railroad company with $80,000 capital and considers a patented bicycle-powered engine to link the town to the Northern Pacific.
- State Commission Accused of Squandering Funds on Political Jobs
Legislative critics claim the Public Service Commission burned through an $80,000 budget without completing crucial utility valuation work.
- The Miracle of the 'Traction Luck'
After the Great Seattle Fire, one man’s singular misfortune becomes a bizarre local legend of resilience.
- The Professional Strike-Maker
Clarence O. Pratt, a master of strategy, is rewriting the rulebook on labor disputes by trading brickbats for public opinion and the power of organized unity.
- The Political Ambitions of a Progressive Society
After finding traction in a local ward race, a Scandinavian social reform group vows to expand its influence into county and state elections.
- Convicts to Pave the Way?
Walla Walla's Commercial Club debates a new state law to employ penitentiary inmates in road construction.
- Will Walla Walla Become an Industrial Powerhouse?
The president of the Stockton-based Holt Manufacturing company scouts the city for a potential Northwest production hub, promising hundreds of jobs.
- The Great Northern's Electrified Tunnel
A bold infrastructure project in the Cascade mountains promises to banish smoke and gas from rail travel.
- Newport Hauls a 142-Foot Cedar Out of the Woods for a Fourth of July Flagpole
A volunteer crew fells, floats and drags a giant cedar to the I.W.N. depot grounds, where it will fly Old Glory over town.
- A Fifty-Year Franchise for All-Night Power
Officials from the Northern Idaho and Montana Electric Light and Power Co. toured Newport, sketched a town-wide distribution system, and asked the city council for a half-century franchise.
- The High Cost of Muddy Roads
A new engineering report argues that upgrading Whitman County's agricultural infrastructure could save farmers millions annually.
Also about this, in other words
- The Mystery of the Creeping Rail
A phantom force is physically shifting the interurban line's tracks toward Tacoma, baffling engineers and causing havoc with the electrical system.
- Train Derailment in Stampede Tunnel
A sudden movement by a helper engine caused a derailment, halting Northern Pacific traffic through the mountains.
- The Iron-Spoke Innovation of 1876
A radical new design in carriage wheels promises a smoother, sturdier ride for Seattle’s muddy, nascent streets.
- The Iron Flash: How Spokane Fell for a Railroad
In a daring midnight maneuver that bypassed local obstructionists, the Oregon and Washington Territory railroad laid its tracks through downtown Spokane in a single night, turning a political standoff into a civic celebration.
- The Price of a Transit Franchise
Tacoma’s City Council strikes a bargain for new railway depots in Old Town and the Narrows, bartering city streets for future development.
- The Emergency Brake of 1892
A clever new mechanism for Seattle's Woodland Park streetcar line promised to stop a runaway trolley car within its own length.
- The Racket on Tacoma Avenue
Local business owners demand the streetcar company silence its noisy, 'flat-wheeled' cars.
- Dragging Through the Storm
A stage driver survives a 48-hour ordeal in the snow by clinging to his horse's tail for survival.