Left in the Dark: Seattle's Electrical Failure
When the lights went out across the city, a local resident spent the night navigating by touch.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Electric Light Company failed to fulfill their contract with the city, and consequently all streets on the northern circuit were left in darkness. The moon was nowhere to be seen, and going up James street, I naturally had to feel my way with a cane. Being on the sidewalk, it presented the aspect of a small canyon. I have endured many things in this city, but this was the worst. Why some members of the council do not attend to this matter is beyond my comprehension.
“I naturally had to feel my way with a cane. Being on the sidewalk, it presented the aspect of a small canyon.”
This 1888 complaint about city infrastructure failing to provide basic services—leaving citizens to navigate dark, hazardous streets—is a century-old echo of modern Seattle's perennial debates over municipal upkeep, public safety, and the reliability of essential utilities in a rapidly growing city.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.