Waddell & Miles Stocked 50 Stove Styles in 1876 Seattle
A look back at the bustling commercial district of 1876 Seattle, where hardware stores like Waddell & Miles fueled a rapidly growing frontier city.
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.
Waddell & Miles, Wholesale and Retail Dealers in Stoves and Tinware. The largest stock and greatest variety of cooking and heating stoves in Washington Territory. Over 50 different kinds and styles to select from, including the old favorites: Diamond, Rocky Mountain, Superior Chef Cook (for wood or coal), Eureka, and Mariposa. Also, iron pipe for gas, water, or steam—black or galvanized, all sizes. Malleable iron pipe fittings, suction and force pumps, plain, japanned, planished, and stamped tinware. English, French, and German enameled tinned hollow ware. Steam and water fittings, globe and angle valves, marine compasses, and brass goods of all descriptions. We purchase our brass goods direct from the manufacturer, which enables us to furnish them of good quality and at low rates. Manufacturers of tin, sheet iron, and copperware. Roofing, plumbing, and jobbing promptly attended to. Having the largest pipe cutting and threading machine and the most complete pipe facilities on Puget Sound, we are prepared to cut all size pipe, from 1/4 inch to 3 inch, and furnish pipe in any length desired, with promptness and at low prices. Agents for Van's celebrated wrought-iron ranges and patent coffee urns for hotels, steamboats, and restaurants. Parties in want of any goods in our line will find it to their interest to call and see us before purchasing elsewhere, as we have the largest and most complete stock on the Sound.
“Having the largest pipe cutting and threading machine and the most complete pipe facilities on Puget Sound, we are prepared to cut all size pipe.”
In 1876, Waddell & Miles represented the essential infrastructure of a boomtown, providing the plumbing, heating, and hardware needed to build Seattle from a timber port into a city. Today, their 'largest stock on the Sound' advertisement mirrors the massive logistical and supply chain efforts currently supporting Seattle's densest urban development projects.
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