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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 101 |
| 1883 | 537 |
| 1884 | 336 |
| 1885 | 624 |
| 1886 | 395 |
| 1887 | 350 |
2,343 stories
- The Secret Plot to Liquidate Seattle’s Elite
A deathbed confession unearths a forgotten 1886 conspiracy by radical socialists to assassinate prominent Seattle figures, including the city's founder, Arthur A. Denny.
- The Tragedy of a Boy on Mercer Island
A young runaway’s desperate flight leads to a dramatic intervention by the county sheriff.
- The Deadly Loaf of Bread
A betrayal between business partners takes a dark turn in Semiahmoo when a loaf of bread becomes a vessel for strychnine.
- The Child on the Train
A conductor discovers a feverish little girl wandering a train alone with only her doll for comfort.
- The Blundering Firefighters of Pioneer Square
A satirical look at a day when a local livery stable fire turned into a slapstick comedy of errors for Seattle's volunteer hook and ladder company.
- The Failed Arson Plot at the Denny Block
A tenant discovers a trail of kerosene-soaked fabric and a trap door beneath his shop, thwarting an attempt to burn down a Seattle business district.
- The Republican Convention of King County
A raucous 1886 political gathering reveals a party divided by railroad influence, local prohibition, and the intense anti-Chinese sentiment of the era.
- The Mysterious Bomb at the Postoffice
A suspicious package resembling a bomb creates a localized stir at the Seattle post office.
- The Opium Smuggler of Second Street
A diligent customs officer tracks a young man and his illicit cargo to a local rooming house.
- The Price of a Mill Hand's Life
An anonymous laborer exposes the exploitative wage practices of the Puget Mill Company, detailing how the firm undercuts competitors by replacing white workers with Chinese laborers at subsistence wages.
- The Secret Railway Building Under Seattle’s Streets
While the city slept, a mysterious construction crew pushed a new railway line through the downtown core, dodging private lots and baffling local observers.
- The Blurred Map of Seattle's Early Real Estate Boom
A local property surveyor exposes a deceptive mapping practice meant to obscure the true boundaries of land parcels during a heated period of development.
- The Street-Level Economy of 'Rolling' Drunks in 1887 Seattle
A courtroom testimony offers a rare, unflinching look at the predatory 'rolling' culture haunting the Pioneer Square waterfront during the city's early development.
- The Great 'Deep Water' Lie: Seattle vs. Tacoma
A leaked conversation between a Northern Pacific Railroad agent and a local editor reveals the cutthroat, manufactured rivalry over which city would become the true terminus for the wheat trade.
- The Hermit of Salmon Bay
After thirty years living in a cave and eating skunk cabbage, an elderly recluse is finally convinced to leave his Pacific Northwest woods for a quieter life in Kentucky.
- Showdown at Cedar Mountain
Striking coal miners in King County confront non-union workers, forcing the Sheriff to intervene as tensions boil over at the mines.
- The Tragic End of Peter Legray
A quiet life on the Seattle waterfront ended in a lonely, tide-swept death, highlighting the stark invisibility of the city's vulnerable in 1887.
- The Unjust Public Shaming of J.E. Spafford
After the death of his wife, a Seattle laborer fights back against local gossip and accusations of neglect in a poignant appeal to the press.
- The Great Seattle Oyster War
When Colonel Jim Steel discovered a legal loophole to seize Seattle’s tide flats for private oyster farming, he triggered a chaotic race against a major land company.
- The Railway King's Monopoly Game
A rare glimpse into the backroom dealings of 1887 Seattle, where coal and rail barons haggled over the city's infrastructure and the 'survival of the fittest'.
- The Pile-Driver Politics of Tacoma’s Waterfront
When the Tacoma Land Company locked the city’s citizens away from the bay, one local activist took a stand with a pile driver, a small cabin, and a vision for an open waterfront.
- The Birth of Woodland Park
How a private visionary’s 'enchanter's wand' turned a rugged, logged-over wilderness into Seattle’s premier public escape.
- The Seattle-Tacoma Rivalry Hits the Rails
An editorial critique of a Northern Pacific Railroad official's visit reveals deep-seated local resentment over the company's blatant favoritism toward Tacoma.
- A Dagger on the Ocean Dock
A man brandishing a knife confronts a sea captain on the Seattle waterfront over an unpaid wage dispute, prompting a dramatic intervention by the Chief of Police.
- The City with Two Police Chiefs
While a legal battle over the city charter rages in court, Seattle finds itself in the absurd position of having two men claiming to lead the police force at once.