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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1871 | 8 |
| 1872 | 110 |
| 1876 | 555 |
| 1877 | 391 |
| 1878 | 306 |
| 1879 | 15 |
| 1880 | 142 |
| 1882 | 101 |
| 1883 | 537 |
| 1884 | 336 |
| 1885 | 624 |
| 1886 | 395 |
| 1887 | 350 |
| 1888 | 330 |
| 1889 | 838 |
| 1890 | 12 |
| 1891 | 362 |
| 1892 | 1,457 |
| 1893 | 1,739 |
| 1894 | 1,323 |
| 1895 | 1,115 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 8 |
| 1898 | 24 |
| 1899 | 372 |
| 1900 | 6 |
| 1902 | 7 |
| 1903 | 164 |
| 1904 | 90 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 90 |
| 1910 | 28 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 5 |
| 1915 | 5 |
| 1916 | 32 |
| 1917 | 11 |
| 1919 | 3 |
| 1923 | 11 |
| 1924 | 16 |
| 1925 | 5 |
| 1928 | 10 |
| 1929 | 15 |
11,970 stories
- The Shadowy Campaign for Seattle's Waterfront
Before the city was fully formed, a powerful railroad lobby attempted to secure the lucrative tide-lands of Elliott Bay through backroom deals.
- The Seattle Armory Convention Fiasco of 1889
Chaos, ballot stuffing, and screaming matches marked a pivotal municipal nominating convention in the wake of the Great Seattle Fire.
- The Battle for Madison Street
A dormant railway company suddenly awakens to block a new transit line, sparking a fierce clash at City Hall.
- After the Great Fire, Seattle Faced a Crisis of Shelter
With the city center in ashes, temporary lodging became the most pressing demand for a bustling frontier town.
- The Battle for Elliott Bay
A railroad company is eyeing a constitutional clause to claim millions in tide lands, but the public says the water belongs to the people.
- Seattle’s Tent City: The Great Fire’s Temporary Housing
A detailed census of the makeshift wooden and canvas structures housing the city in the weeks after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
- The Great Reconstruction
A reporter recounts the feverish pace of laborers, bricklayers, and carpenters rebuilding Seattle following a massive fire.
- The Great Rent Refund Fight
A landmark Seattle court case establishes a precedent for tenants demanding rent back after their buildings are destroyed.
- The Battle for Seattle's Tide Lands
Powerful legal lobbyists and land speculators are maneuvering to seize control of Seattle's valuable waterfront before the constitutional convention can intervene.
- The Open-Air Slumber of Seattle's Waterfront
When the summer heat turned tenement apartments into 'human lumber-boxes,' thousands of Seattle residents—men, women, and children alike—sought respite by camping overnight on the exposed, city-owned piers.
- The First Labor Day Parade in Seattle
Thousands of Seattle workers marched through the downtown streets on September 2, 1889, in the city’s inaugural celebration of the labor movement.
- The Brutal Toll of 1889’s Public Safety Panic
After a violent prison break and a string of failed robberies, three young men receive decades-long prison sentences—sparking a debate over justice, recidivism, and the city's grim penal reality.
- Valentine Scrip Sparks Protest Over Washington Waterfronts
Speculators and land-hungry companies are betting big on a loophole involving obscure 'Valentine scrip' to seize Seattle’s tideflats, setting the stage for a massive legal showdown.
- The Phoenix City: Seattle's Rapid Rebirth After the Great Fire
Just 18 months after the 1889 fire leveled the downtown, Seattle transformed from charred ruins into a modern metropolis of stone, steel, and electric streetcars.
- The Great Land Grab of 1890
Official records from the Seattle land office reveal a massive migration of settlers moving into Washington’s 'virgin soil,' fueling a population boom and shifting the region's economy toward private ownership.
- The King of the Hop Fields
In 1891, Washington's hop industry was a global juggernaut, fueling a million-dollar boom and transforming the Puget Sound landscape—until the lice arrived.
- The Tragedy of Mrs. Flood
A desperate attempt at self-destruction reveals the cycle of domestic abuse occurring in a downtown hotel.
- 1891 Commission Rejects Private Control of Seattle Harbor
A landmark 1891 report reveals the state's fierce battle against private interests to reclaim Seattle's tide lands and shoreline for public use.
- The City Council’s War on Williams: How Seattle Tried to Fire Its Own Engineer
A bitter power struggle between the Board of Aldermen and city engineer Benezette Williams led to a legislative loophole designed to strip him of his contract, sparking fears of costly lawsuits and stalled infrastructure projects.
- The Opium Ring and the Floating Body: A Seattle Murder Mystery
When Abner Abbott’s body was found in the tide flats, suspicion fell on a smuggling ring. Was he silenced for knowing too much about a $400 check from China?
- The Plot to Lock Up a Witness: How Greed Tried to Silence a Pioneer
William De Shaw, a respected Seattle merchant and witness to a will worth millions in British Columbia, was nearly committed to an insane asylum by land speculators who wanted his testimony silenced.
- The Thief in Blue: Police Chief Exposes Captain’s Theft of Prisoners’ Belongings
A dramatic hearing reveals Officer Fayban’s accusation that Captain Henry Sheahan stole handkerchiefs, neckties, and cash from arrested men, sparking a bitter war of words between Seattle’s top law enforcement officials.
- The Iron City That Never Was: Kirkland’s $3 Million Bet on Steel
In 1891, promoters promised to turn the shores of Lake Washington into the 'Pittsburgh of the Pacific,' selling lots for a fortune and laying tracks for a empire that would vanish within a decade.
- Death in the Ring at the People's Theater
A sparring match at a downtown variety hall turns fatal, sparking a city-wide crackdown on brutal 'glove contests'.
- Moving the University: A Fight Over Land and Legacy
Legislators and local boosters draft a plan to relocate the University of Washington and untangle decades of messy land titles.