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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 4 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 8 |
20 stories
- The Navy Eyes the Sound
Federal commissioners officially name Port Orchard as the superior site for a major naval base in the Pacific Northwest.
- Puget Sound Secures the New Navy Yard
Washington State beats Oregon in Senate lobbying, winning the site for the Pacific naval station.
- Suspicious Death of Indigenous Woman Near Charleston
An Indian woman was found dead in a canoe after an evening of drinking; local authorities noted a suspicious head wound.
- The Navy Secretary Goes Down Into the Big Hole
Secretary of the Navy Herbert rides the lighthouse tender Manzanita across the Sound to inspect the giant new dry dock at Port Orchard, settles a bitter dispute over how deep to drive the pilings, and dances the night away at the Rainier.
- The Navy Builds a Monster at Port Orchard
In 1895 the government rushed to finish the third-largest dry dock on earth on Puget Sound — a timber-and-granite pit big enough to swallow any warship afloat, and the reason Seattle's harbor would never be the same.
- The Iron Vanguard of the Pacific
While the USS Nipsic was an aging relic of a bygone naval era, its arrival at the Puget Sound station in 1892 marked a pivotal, hard-fought milestone in Seattle's rise as a major military port.
- The Million-Dollar Dry Dock Across the Sound
At Port Orchard, contractors raced to finish the largest dry dock in America—and boasted it would be third largest in the world.
- A Wedding Gift of Waterfront Land
A Kitsap County marriage is marked by a generous, high-stakes wedding present of property near the U.S. dry dock.
- The Navy's $600,000 Question: Was the Dry Dock Built on Bad Piles?
A special commission of Army engineers is rushed to Puget Sound to test whether the navy's new dry dock was built on bad piling and inferior concrete.
- The Strategic Choice of Port Orchard
A government commission selects Sinclair Harbor as the ideal location for the Pacific Navy Yard, citing its natural defenses and proximity to Seattle and Tacoma.
- The Navy Yard That Built a County
Twenty-nine dry-dock workers were laid off, but Port Orchard's naval station was planning barracks, a railroad and a boom for Kitsap County.
- The Dry Dock That Would Make Puget Sound a Naval Power
Senator Watson Squire tells the U.S. Senate that the Port Orchard dry dock is the largest in America and the cheapest in the world—and that the Northwest's future depends on finishing it now.
- The Navy's Giant Dry Dock Needed One More Appropriation
A $200,000 federal appropriation rescued the Port Orchard dry dock from a year's delay, a rare bit of good news for Puget Sound's naval future.
- Breaking Ground for the Port Orchard Dry Dock
After years of lobbying and survey work, the construction of the Puget Sound Naval Station's massive dry dock officially begins with a ceremony led by Commandant Wyckoff.
- The Dry Dock That Put Puget Sound on the Navy's Map
Senator Squire adds $75,000 to complete the Port Orchard dry dock, a strategic win for Pacific cruisers and a lasting boost for Puget Sound.
- The Tragic End of the Steamer Ellis
A sternwheeler plying the waters between Seattle and Sidney is lost to fire, leaving a captain with a total loss and few answers.
- A Marriage for Money, a Dish of Hot Oysters
A. A. Rogerson's answer in a divorce suit painted his remarriage as a scheme for a note and mortgage—and one Bremerton dinner as a brawl.
- The Unseen Work Behind the Dock
A retort to rumors of labor shortages at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, emphasizing the reality of clearing wilderness before construction can begin.
- A Senator's Hour-Long Fight Saved Puget Sound's Dry Dock
Washington's Senator Squire talked the Senate out of deep cuts to the Puget Sound dry dock, keeping the project alive and its funding immediately available.
- The Dry Dock at Port Orchard Nears Completion
Surveyors, granite cutters and carpenters are closing in on the main structure at the Port Orchard naval station, with pumps expected next month.