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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1883 | 7 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 12 |
| 1891 | 11 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 9 |
| 1894 | 7 |
| 1895 | 6 |
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83 stories matching widen
- The Pavement Fight: Seattle’s Battle for a Wider Second Street
A century ago, city leaders warned that Seattle’s narrow streets were choking its growth, sparking a massive petition to widen the thoroughfare before the 'brick building' boom made the change impossible.
- Seattle Property Owners to Assess Front Street Widening
A mid-summer legal notice reveals the bureaucratic struggle to widen Front Street—modern-day First Avenue—as the city demanded property owners share the cost of modernization.
- The Seattle Fire and the Street-Widening Battle
Following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, the city grapples with the high cost of progress, property rights, and the urgent need for a more resilient, accessible city plan.
- The Right to Offset Benefits in Land Seizures
A landmark Washington Supreme Court decision settles a heated dispute over whether the city can lower compensation for seized land by claiming the public improvement adds value to the owner's remaining property.
- The Great Second Street Brawl: A City Hall Conflict Over Progress
When Seattle’s city leaders proposed widening a major downtown street in 1892, they ignited a bitter debate over property rights, public vs. private cost, and the relentless march of urban expansion.
- The Woman Who Defended Her Home With a Shotgun
When city laborers arrived to tear down Mrs. Williamson's fence for a road-widening project, she made it clear that some property rights are defended by force.
- Walla Walla Orders a Heavy-Duty Fire Engine
The City Council approves a $6,100 purchase for a new Metropolitan fire engine, requiring the widening of city firehouse doors.
- The Seattle Real Estate 'Gigantic Scheme' to Chicago
A proposed state law to widen Seattle streets is condemned as a speculative ploy to unload property on unsuspecting Eastern buyers.
- Harrington & Smith Secure Waterfront Legacy
A landmark property transfer on Commercial Street marks the largest private real estate sale in the Territory's history.
- Seattle’s 1891 Multi-Million Dollar Infrastructure Gamble
Facing a massive backlog of unpaid municipal warrants, Seattle voters were called to the polls in early 1891 to authorize a $861,000 bond issuance to cover street widenings and fire department debts.
- Before the Railroads Cut Through Seattle, One Man Proposed a Saner Street Grid
A letter to the editor calls for wider avenues, a logical naming and numbering system, and railroad tracks that follow the platted streets—not slice across them at will.
- Fortifying the City Against the Creek
Construction begins on Mill Creek to prevent flood damage and clear a site for a new fire station.
- The Price of a City’s Future: Yesler’s Corner
A single landowner held Seattle’s urban development hostage, forcing the city council to choose between private property rights and the public good.
- Near-Collision at the Bowles Crossing
A dangerous railroad crossing in Kennewick serves as a reminder of the hazards facing motorists and wagons in the early days of automobile traffic.
- Seattle’s $26 Million Gamble: The City That Voted on Its Own Future
In January 1891, Seattle voters faced two massive ballots: one to annex the booming town of Ballard, and another to issue $860,000 in bonds for street widening and debt relief. It was a defining moment of civic ambition.
- The Fire Insurance Panic
Seattle insurance agents threaten to hike rates due to the city's dangerously narrow alleys.
- Rising from the Ashes: The Great Seattle Fire of 1888
While the downtown core smoldered, Seattle citizens gathered in the courthouse—lit by tallow dips—to demand a modern city of brick and stone, rejecting makeshift wooden shacks and dreaming of a reconstructed metropolis.
- The Northern Pacific Railroad Plans Tacoma's Expansion
Railroad executives visit to strategize the massive redevelopment of Tacoma's waterfront and terminal infrastructure.
- Seattle Laid Out Its Streets for 7,000 People. It Was Already Too Small.
In 1883, Seattle citizens worried that the young city's twenty-foot business streets could not carry the growth already under way, and a movement began to widen them to eighty feet.
- Expanding Seattle's Waterfront for Global Trade
Local builders begin a massive wharf expansion project to accommodate the largest steamships on the Pacific.
- The Day Seattle Decided Its Own Future
On a January day in 1891, the city held a massive, complex special election to authorize bonds for massive public infrastructure, paving the way for the city’s rapid growth.
- The Political Fight Over Federal Jobs
A brewing rebellion among Democratic legislators in Olympia threatens the leadership of Col. Griggs over the spoils of federal patronage.
- Solving the 'Ram's Horn' Snarl
A council committee moves to eliminate a crooked railroad right-of-way that has long hindered harbor development on the Seattle waterfront.
- A Steamboat Showdown on the Sound
When two rival steamers raced from Tacoma to Seattle, the smaller vessel left its larger competitor in its wake.
- Farmers Petition to Reshape the Duwamish Basin
Facing constant flooding and ruin, regional farmers unite to demand a massive engineering project to redirect the Cedar River and deepen the waterways of Seattle.