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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1885 | 5 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1889 | 37 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 15 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
81 stories
- The Inexhaustible Forests Are Running Out
A look at the rapid expansion of logging in the Puget Sound region, where the arrival of railroads and new machinery is accelerating the harvest of timber once thought to be endless.
- The Mill Town Schoolhouse Scandal
When the town’s dominant lumber company controlled the land, the children and the schoolhouse were left to fend for themselves.
- The Great Squeeze: How Timber Barons Cut Wages in Mason County
By consolidating operations and forcing loggers into company-controlled boarding houses, the industry’s giants effectively reduced worker pay while crushing independent competition.
- A Child Hero Killed in Hunting Accident
A fourteen-year-old boy, famous for fighting off a cougar as a child, is shot after being mistaken for a deer near Shelton.
- The Ghost Island of Arcadia
A squatter fights for the right to claim a six-acre island that the federal government officially claims doesn't exist.
- The Skokomish River's Fury
A rapid rise and fall of water levels damages county roads and sweeps away mining camp infrastructure in Mason County.
- A School Teacher’s Brush with Death in the Skokomish
While attempting to reach the hotels at Lake Cushman, a young educator was swept away by a flooded river in a terrifying ordeal.
- The Auditor’s Scathing Reply
A war of words erupts between a Mason County auditor and the Adjutant-General over military duty records.
- The Logger Who Wrestled a Bear
A local timber worker narrowly escapes death after stumbling into a den and fighting a brown bear for fifteen minutes with an axe.
- The Town Council's Bridge Feud
A bitter public dispute erupts over a $500 council appropriation for a bridge project on Shelton’s First Street.
- The Great Rail Boom Hits Shelton
A multi-million dollar railroad expansion promises to connect Shelton to the Puget Sound and beyond, sparking a frenzy of speculation.
- Shelton’s Crumbling Infrastructure Battle
Citizens are left to 'go to thunder' after the City Board funnels the town's remaining street funds into a bridge project that disproportionately benefits the members themselves.
- A Logging Camp's Fifteen Minutes of Fame
The local press calls out a national magazine's exaggerated depiction of Shelton's timber industry.
- The Unfair Bounty of the Hood Canal
Local fishers lament that millions of salmon are being shipped away for canning, leaving the local community to profit nothing from their own waters.
- Two Miles Perched on the Lower Circle of a Rainbow
A Shelton legislator's private letter describing a steamer passage up Hammersley's Inlet becomes the best prose in the paper — a circle of prismatic color, starfish, glaciers and one awestruck captain.
- The Day the Sow Ate the News
A small-town editor explains why his paper missed a week: a red sow, a keg of ink, and a very narrow escape.
- The True Cost of a Found Five-Dollar Gold Piece
A local man's sudden windfall leads to a cautionary tale of impulsive spending that quickly outstripped his luck.
- The Grass Isn't Always Greener in Indiana
A young couple leaves Shelton for the Midwest, only to find themselves struggling and desperate to return to Washington.
- The Rails of Mason County: An Industry Giant Plans a Deep-Woods Expansion
A representative of the Port Blakely Mill Company confirms plans to lay a standard-gauge steel railroad into the heart of Washington's timber country, setting the stage for industrial transformation.
- The Price of Mason County's Riches
Detailed 1891 logging records from Shelton reveal a booming timber industry that paid out tens of thousands in wages—but left local communities dependent on outside supplies.
- Shelton’s Growing Pains and Booming Timber
A census reveals Mason County is shifting toward a higher population class, sparking a rush of candidates vying for new, higher-paying offices.
- Discovery of a Hidden Crater Lake
Two hunters stumble upon a mysterious, glacier-fed lake deep in the Olympic Mountains.
- The Logging Camp Christmas Boom
Thousands of dollars in wages hit the Shelton economy as loggers prepare for a holiday of debt-paying and celebration.
- The Carrie Ladd Runs Aground
A steamship meets its fate on a rock at Cape Horn, leaving passengers and crew to abandon the sinking vessel on the Washington side of the Columbia River.
- The Great Shelton General Store Heist
Nine hundred dollars in goods vanishes overnight from a new store, leaving local law enforcement with no leads.