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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 5 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
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26 stories matching valv
- The City Buried Its Own Mistake: Coroner’s Verdict Blames Seattle for Deadly Boiler Explosion
A coroner’s jury has issued a scathing indictment against the city of Seattle, its building inspectors, and a plumber for the negligence that led to a Tuesday night explosion. The verdict fixes blame on the municipality for allowing a dangerous steam heater beneath a public sidewalk without proper oversight.
- City Left in the Dark by Gas Failure
A mechanical error at the gas works plunged Tacoma into darkness, ruining breakfasts and sparking public frustration.
- Eight Dead, and the Steamboat Owners Owe Only $3,500
A federal judge in Seattle limits the Annie Faxon's liability after a Snake River boiler explosion, extending an old maritime rule to inland steamboats.
- The Tragedy on Trestle No. 4
A father's desperate attempt to walk his children to safety during a heavy snowstorm ends in a devastating train accident on the outskirts of Tacoma.
- A Grandmother’s Protest Against Modern Medicine
An 88-year-old Seattle resident challenges the medical establishment's use of grease and drugs to treat scarlet fever, advocating for a return to water-based remedies.
- Ballard Opera House Destroyed by Blaze
A mysterious fire levels the largest building in Ballard, narrowly sparing the surrounding town.
- The Daredevil of Seattle: A Near-Fatal Balloon Plunge
Thousands watched from the waterfront as Professor Van Tassell's aerial exhibition went awry, nearly ending in disaster over the harbor.
- A Damning Report on Seattle's Water Works
A Chamber of Commerce committee found a hastily built municipal water system, political patronage and missing maps—and urged Seattle to hire a professional engineer at $5,000 a year.
- A Lonely Passing in Hoquiam
A Swedish immigrant is found dead in his home a week after his passing, leaving behind a modest fortune and unanswered questions.
- The False Solution to Homelessness
A radical critique of the 1909 railroad industry's plan to solve unemployment by mass imprisonment.
- The City Hall Compromise on Vice
A heated debate over whether to permit gambling and vice reveals the deep divide between reformers and those who viewed 'sin' as a necessary economic pressure valve.
- Rising from the Ashes: A Seattle Sawmill's Rapid Rebirth
After a devastating fire, the Stetson & Post Mill Company leverages modern fire-safety technology and local community support to rebuild better than before.
- The Water Main Blowout on Lake Washington
A faulty metallic plug failed under pressure, exposing the vulnerability of Seattle's early water infrastructure.
- The Wagon King Tells Seattle to Build Roads and Put Idle Men to Work
Clem Studebaker, visiting from South Bend, says Puget Sound is beautiful but backward: good roads, an army-built highway system, and the Nicaragua canal would cure unemployment.
- The 75-Year-Old Whistling-Buoy Inventor Comes to Fit the Navy's 600-Ton Gate
James Bigler, who has built the giant steel caissons in every government dry dock in the country, arrives on Puget Sound to assemble the mammoth gate for the Port Orchard dock — a 600-ton steel vessel shipped in pieces around Cape Horn.
- The Salvage Ship That Came to Raise Puget Sound’s Sunken Wrecks
A new wrecking schooner arrived in Seattle with a rubber-suited diver, hydraulic jacks and a plan to lift the sunken Mississippi and Warhawk from the Sound.
- The Sewer Plan That Imagined a City of 200,000
Engineer J. S. Camp presented Olympia’s council with a tide-powered reservoir and automatic flush tanks, a system meant to grow with the capital city.
- Disaster Strikes at the Lime Kilns
A dangerous industrial accident in the San Juan Islands leaves an engineer clinging to a pile for his life as safety measures fail.
- The Inspector Walks: Seattle’s Port Officer Cleared After a Five-Day Fight
A Treasury report finds the charges against Inspector Bryant were rooted in personal ill will—and praises him as “a very efficient officer.”
- A Gas Well Roars to Life in the Sagebrush — and Yakima Comes to Watch
Sixty North Yakima men drove out to a wildcat well 14 miles north of Benton City, where escaping gas hissed like a locomotive, then lit into a 20-foot tower of flame — and raised fresh hopes of oil under the desert. Spoiler: the gas wasn't there in commercial quantities yet.
- Seattle Burned the Devil's Playthings in the City Furnace
The Colored Pastime Club's cards and tables went up in smoke, reviving memories of the Budweiser raid, Sheriff Cochran's cleanup, and the 1885 Chinese riots.
- The Tug Mogul's Last Run and the Engineers Who Took the Blame
A letter from Victoria defends the engine-room crew of the tug Mogul, insisting the vessel was unfit to reach Neah Bay and that no one panicked as the water rose.
- The Blast at the Water Pipe
A reckless explosion near a city water main in Tacoma threatened the reservoir supply, forcing a frantic overnight repair.
- The Balloon Dreams of 1889
While aeronauts of the late 19th century insisted that aerial travel was the future, Seattle residents remained skeptical of the 'helpless' hot air ships.
- The Labor Panic of 1877
A Seattle editorial weighs in on the xenophobic rumors of coal mine labor imports, framing the struggle between capital and the working class.
Also about this, in other words
- The Van Valley Bottling Works Remains Unfair
A labor dispute over wages and union jurisdiction continues to heat up in Everett.
- The Precarious Wealth of a Marcus Bachelor
A wealthy settler in the Colville Valley suffers a public health scare, highlighting the risks of frontier isolation and the burden of managing an estate.