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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1862 | 7 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 43 |
| 1877 | 26 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 20 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 20 |
| 1886 | 8 |
| 1887 | 6 |
| 1888 | 22 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 8 |
| 1892 | 47 |
| 1893 | 63 |
| 1894 | 37 |
| 1895 | 34 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 8 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1912 | 1 |
399 stories
- Three Days Adrift: A Ferryman's Rescue Off Point Wilson
A German sailor in an open skiff, barely able to speak or move, is pulled from the water by Mr. Benson and brought to Port Townsend.
- A Chinese Buyers' Pool, a Ring of Boosters, and a Near-Riot Over Confiscated Opium
At the Port Townsend marshal's sale, Seattle's Chinese merchants tried to buy back a confiscated lot in one block — until local bidders ran the price up for sport.
- The Night Port Townsend Refused a Boatload of Strikebreakers
Twenty-eight destitute men from a Nanaimo miners' strike were shipped to Port Townsend aboard the North Pacific. Sheriff Miller met them at the wharf and said they could not land.
- Port Townsend’s Fire Chief Quits After Council Cuts Pay
Salary reductions leave the department’s chief and engineer gone, with Engineer Draper refusing to juggle five jobs—engineer, janitor, teamster, alarm superintendent, and assistant chief—for less pay.
- Gold in the Black Sand: A Mining Rush at Cape Flattery
Three Port Townsend men stake claims on sixty acres of beach and start pulling $3 to $7 a day from the sand — and predict a rush.
- The Outlaw Who Bought His Way Into a Saloon
Frank Mossman, a notorious repeat offender with three prior jail breaks, walked into a Port Townsend saloon on Sunday night and refused to leave—until he threw rocks at the bartender.
- The Boomtown That Expected to Be 'The Next San Francisco'
In 1888, the 'Key City' of Port Townsend was so convinced of its impending status as a transcontinental rail terminus that it began feverishly selling off the entire landscape.
- The Passing of the Duke of York
The leader of the Clallam people, a historic figure and friend to early pioneers, dies in Port Townsend with plans for a monument in his honor.
- The Ghost Ship of Port Townsend
A British bark vanishes in the fog off Washington’s coast; a court of inquiry clears the crew, but not before two men drown and the master walks away with nothing.
- The Boss of Port Townsend
A taxpayer-led revolt targets a city treasurer backed by gamblers, prostitutes, and the local political machine.
- The Lumber Industry Faces a Hard Winter
Puget Sound mills struggle through the worst slump in twelve years as global markets dry up.
- Drafting the Law of the Sound
A legislative proposal to appoint a formal Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Puget Sound and Juan de Fuca Straits.
- Safety Concerns Raised at the Rose Theatre
The Everett Trades Council takes action to protect theatergoers, demanding the city inspector review inadequate fire exits.
- Everett Faces Crucial Bond Election
A skeptical labor press weighs in on the city's proposed bond issue, noting the deep-seated distrust of the current business-led administration.
- The Clallam Tragedy: A Honeymoon Cut Short
A husband watches helplessly as his bride vanishes into the stormy seas during the sinking of the SS Clallam in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- The Financial Cost of the Temperance Fight
A state supreme court ruling creates a $42,000 budget deficit for Everett, leaving the city to grapple with the economic fallout of its prohibitionist policies.
- The Port Townsend Lottery Fugitive
A pillar of local society is unmasked as the mastermind behind a massive multi-city lottery swindle.
- A Judge Ate Candy While a Man's Life Hung on the Verdict
The state supreme court overturns a Jefferson County murder conviction after Judge Sachs reads newspapers and passes sweets on the bench — and delivers a rebuke that is the longest opinion of the term.
- A Crew Called the Iona Unseaworthy. The Cutter Called It Mutiny.
Before the Italian bark Iona could leave Port Townsend, its sailors refused to sail. A survey said the ship was sound; a revenue cutter's officer put the men in irons and warned them of a mutiny trial.
- A Dead Calm and a Disabled Engine: The Columbia Goes Ashore
The steamship Columbia struck the mouth of Puget Sound on a quiet night, her machinery useless. Passengers and mail were saved; $200,000 in cargo was not.
- The Pioneer Who Built Port Townsend's First Wharf
Captain Enoch S. Fowler, a Maine-born mariner turned merchant and officeholder, dies at 63, leaving a town shaped by his ships, wharves, and stone buildings.
- Governor Ferry Calls for a Special Election
Following a tie vote in the November 1876 election, the Governor orders a new vote for the Territorial Assembly representative for Clallam and San Juan counties.
- The Gold Rush That Wasn't: Copper River’s ‘Sickness’ and the Lie of the Trail
A prospector returns from the Copper River country with a chilling warning: the gold is gone, the camps are sick, and the 'passage' to new fields is a myth.
- The Boom on the Sound
A look at the rapid industrial and commercial expansion of Port Townsend in 1888.
- Port Townsend Doubled Its Population Without a Boom Campaign
In 1888, Port Townsend boosters promised their city would become the next San Francisco by monopolizing the region's rail and shipping trade.