The Great Strawberry Heist of 1885
After the ladies of the Trinity Guild finished their social, two Seattle boys broke into the hall to steal the remaining ice cream and strawberries.
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.
After their social in Yesler’s Hall last Monday night, the ladies of Trinity Guild locked up about 12 o’clock and went to their houses, leaving in the hall the unconsumed refreshments, unsold goods, dishes and other things. Several bad boys had been waiting for this time, and shortly after, they broke into the building. They ate an immense quantity of the ice cream and strawberries that were left, and then soiled the floor and stole a large quantity of goods. The latter were thrown about the streets and alleys. Altogether it was one of the worst nuisances ever committed in the city. Two boys, named Richards and Lowery, were arrested for the offense and put in jail.
“They ate an immense quantity of the ice cream and strawberries that were left, and then soiled the floor and stole a large quantity of goods.”
A small-town crime involving stolen refreshments at Yesler's Hall illustrates how the social life of a bustling 1885 Seattle was tightly tied to downtown community hubs. Even as the city grew into a major metropolis, the tension between neighborhood social events and local delinquency remains a persistent feature of Seattle's civic narrative.
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