Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine2 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 22 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 47 |
| 1893 | 62 |
| 1894 | 37 |
| 1895 | 34 |
227 stories
- One Customs Job, Two Promises, and a Party on the Brink
A federal patronage fight between John Collins and Hugh Wallace, layered atop a King County apportionment grab, had Republicans threatening an open row in Tacoma.
- The Bering Sea's Brazen Seal Poachers, as Told by a Port Townsend Captain
A sealing schooner back from five months in the Bering Sea describes a coordinated scheme of lookouts, false alibis and cached skins used to outwit the revenue cutters.
- A Port Townsend Lawyer Vanishes Without a Trace
Capt. George H. Jones, a constitutional convention delegate and Republican county leader, had been missing for days when his family's Puget Sound search came up empty.
- Political Uprising at the Port Townsend Democratic Club
A planned 'indignation meeting' against the local customs collector backfires, leading to a party coup and the removal of the club's president.
- Port Townsend Vows Boycott Over Tacoma's Dry Dock Gambit
The Key City accuses its rival to the south of sabotaging its bid for a stationary dry dock — and threatens to take its trade to Portland and San Francisco instead.
- Offices for a Senate Vote: The Backroom Deal in Jefferson County
A Democratic leader offers Populists half the county offices — and a customs-house appointment — if they will help elect Hugh Wallace to the U.S. Senate. Even party regulars call it a disgrace.
- The $3,000 Health Office That Vanished
A lawsuit between rival health officers ends with a lucrative post abolished and steamship companies refusing to pay for certificates they never legally owed.
- The Flat-Iron, the Umbrella, and the Inkstand: A Port Townsend Divorce Suit
J. K. Meyer's divorce petition turns a respectable Port Townsend marriage into a catalogue of thrown household goods, alleged affairs, and very public embarrassment.
- A Voice in the Dark: The Burglar Who Knew the Girls' Room
Three young women in Port Townsend wake to a prowler fumbling at the bureau, hand over ten cents and two trinkets, and wait trembling for daylight.
- The 'Pirates' of Hood Canal Were Actually the Men Who Chased the Thieves
A Port Townsend dispatch mistakenly branded two Bangor residents as robbers; they were the ones who caught the real thieves and recovered a boatload of plunder.
- The Fall of Alaska's Deputy Marshal
Ralph A. Meyer, once a trusted federal officer in Alaska, passes through Port Townsend bound for six years in San Quentin — a cautionary tale of a brilliant career undone by embezzlement.
- The Lost Letter of Port Townsend
A postal worker at the Port Townsend wharf brushes off a man’s frantic search for a missing letter, revealing a small, forgotten drama of 1888.
- A Maritime Collision in Port Townsend
A federal judge rules both a Norwegian bark and an American steamer are at fault for a late-night crash at the harbor entrance.
- The Unwieldy Giants of the Sound
After a grueling trip from Australia, a captain declares five-masted schooners unfit for the deep-water lumber trade.
- The Partisan Vitriol Against J. Hamilton Lewis
The Post-Intelligencer launches a scathing attack on gubernatorial candidate J. Hamilton Lewis, labeling him an 'unscrupulous charlatan' and a 'political street fakir.'
- Could Tobacco be the Sound's Next Great Crop?
An experimental harvest in Jefferson County sparks hope that Puget Sound could replace hops with lucrative tobacco farming.
- The Great Rainout: Seattle’s Masonic Festival Drowned by the Sky
As delegates from across the territory gathered for a grand celebration, an unrelenting downpour forced organizers to cancel races and hope for a dry evening tea.
- The Pioneer’s Path to Port Hadlock
From gold mining to lumber milling, Samuel Hadlock reflects on the rugged early days of Washington Territory.
- Marine Greyhounds for the Sound
New patrol boats for the Revenue Cutter Service are to be built locally in Port Townsend to crack down on smuggling.
- The Passing of the Pacific’s Pioneer Telegrapher
John Leatch, a veteran operator who laid the wire between Port Townsend and Olympia, dies in San Francisco.
- The Husking Bee at Learned's Opera House
Port Townsend society gathers for a successful amateur performance to benefit the Seamen's Bethel.
- The Tragedy of Joseph Zanish: A Life Lost to the Puget Sound
A sailor’s body washes ashore near Port Hadlock six weeks after he fell from the ship J.B. Brown, sparking an inquest that confirms accidental death.
- The New Boom in Port Townsend
Fresh from the recent election, the new municipal government promises rapid expansion and a bold vision for civic infrastructure.
- The Day the Knights Came to Town
A delegation of Redmen from Port Townsend arrives in Seattle for a ceremonial gathering, greeted by crowds and banquets.
- The Boom Town That Never Was: Port Townsend's Rail Hopes
A local investor promises five hundred men will grade the Port Townsend Southern Railroad within three weeks, fueling dreams of a transit metropolis that ultimately vanished into the fog of history.