The Boom Under the Cascades: Washington's Coal Explosion
As Seattle’s economy surged in 1890, the coal industry hit a record-breaking output, fueling the region’s expansion and signaling the arrival of major Eastern capital.
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 year just closed has marked the greatest activity ever known in the coal industry of the state, not only in extending operations upon old established mines, but the prospecting and developing of new mining properties. Output of all mines for 1890 reached 1,349,773 tons, an increase of 438,246 tons over the previous year. King County leads the list, with Black Diamond, Coal Creek, and other mines increasing their force and productivity. No labor troubles have disturbed the even tenor of the various districts in the state; labor is as well paid as any place in the United States, and employment is steady the year round. The entire Pacific coast is the market for Washington coal, though demand from San Francisco has been keener than usual due to strikes in Australia shutting off competitive supply. Prices are steady, with a fair estimate of the market value of the entire product of Western Washington being $3.33 per ton.
“No labor troubles have disturbed the even tenor of the various districts in the state. Labor is as well paid as any place in the United States, and employment is steady the year round.”
In 1890, Seattle’s rapid growth was driven by the extraction of raw materials like coal, mirroring the current era where the city's economic identity is constantly reshaped by the rapid scaling of new industries. The mention of 'steady employment' and absence of labor trouble stands in contrast to the intense industrial organization that followed, a reminder that Seattle's prosperity has always been deeply tethered to its natural resource wealth.
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