The Coal Scramble
Anticipating a price hike, long lines of horse-drawn teams clogged the streets near the bunkers in a rush to secure cheaper fuel.
The advance in the price of coal went into effect yesterday, and the knowledge that an advance was to be made caused a tremendous local sale the day before. At the Oregon Improvement Company's bunkers, a string of teams reaching clear out along Commercial Street almost to Jackson stood awaiting their turns in the afternoon and evening to be loaded with cheap coal. Nearly every particle of coal in sight around the bunkers was sold, and a number of teams had to go away light.
“A string of teams reaching clear out along Commercial street almost to Jackson stood awaiting their turns.”
Energy price volatility remains a fixture of Seattle life, though today's anxiety over heating oil and electricity costs echoes this 1892 dash for coal. The scene described near Commercial and Jackson Streets—now in the heart of Pioneer Square—vividly captures a city that relied on massive industrial infrastructure right at its waterfront.
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