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Old newspapers, pinned to the places they wrote about — the streets you can still walk today.

How to use itThe map, research, and checking a story against its page
About Same StreetsWhat this is, where the stories come from, and who makes it
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Stories from Olney, on the map

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When1860 – 1930

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Map layerModern

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1894Seattle1895Snohomish1897Tacoma1899Ellensburg1901Spokane1903Snoqualmie1910Pullman1911Mount Vernon1913Wenatchee1916Chehalis1917Pasco1919Walla Walla

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Stories from Olney

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FEB 26, 1895Olney, WA

The Political Boss of the Post Office

A Washington D.C. power broker uses his influence to hand-pick postmasters and settle personal scores, leaving local aspirants trembling.

“With his smooth face and silk hat, he is the veritable modern Napoleon of politics.”

City Hall

Read the story: The Political Boss of the Post Office →

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Where the stories are

Seattle10,892
Tacoma2,624
Olympia1,225
Walla Walla979
Kennewick844
Yakima684
Snohomish641
Everett552
Spokane487
Aberdeen475
Newport372
Port Townsend336

All 570 towns · Ghost towns · Browse every story · Events · How this is made

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Old news, on today’s map

Every story here comes from a real Washington newspaper page, pinned to the place it happened — the streets you can still walk today.

The map 2 of 5

Each circle is a town

Its number is how many stories it has. Tap one to list them; zoom in and a crowded area splits into its towns. A solid dot means the exact spot is known; a dashed ring means only the town.

Every story 3 of 5

Read the original page

Each story links to its scanned newspaper page, where you can zoom right into the paper and check every word for yourself.

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Photos, ghost towns and old maps

Buttons along the top of the map switch to photographs, ghost towns and historic maps. Filters, on the map’s left edge, narrow it by decade. Research, in the menu, searches towns, people and groups.

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A free account — no password — lets you add a correction or a family memory, and suggest where a story happened when the map only knows the town.

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