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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 37 |
| 1884 | 21 |
| 1885 | 30 |
| 1886 | 16 |
| 1887 | 59 |
| 1888 | 27 |
| 1889 | 60 |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1891 | 44 |
| 1892 | 220 |
| 1893 | 223 |
| 1894 | 200 |
| 1895 | 154 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 4 |
| 1899 | 26 |
| 1903 | 54 |
| 1904 | 784 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 7 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 716 |
| 1910 | 3 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1916 | 7 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1924 | 3 |
2,734 stories
- $10 to Vote: Tacoma's City Hall Bribery Probe
Tacoma's council heard testimony that City Clerk Smyth paid Councilman Thompson $10 for his vote—and that Thompson tried to bribe the city attorney over a gambling house.
- The Bribe, the Clerk, and the Police Chief
A Tacoma councilman and city clerk faced bribery charges as the police chief refused to name the gamblers behind the Haymarket.
- The $100-Acre Garden: How Puyallup’s ‘Rich Farming’ Made Landlords Rich and Farmers Poor
In the fertile valleys of Tacoma County, land speculators from Philadelphia are buying up prime soil for $150 an acre, turning subsistence farming into a high-stakes real estate game.
- The Nightmare Murder: Tacoma Wife Killed by Husband in Sleep
An inquest reveals that Charles Corey strangled his wife while suffering from a nightmare, sparking debate over whether he was guilty of murder or merely a victim of his own subconscious.
- The Opium Ring That Terrified the Sound
A dark-complexioned gentleman with a sloop and a mission is dismantling smuggling rings in Puget Sound, proving that federal authority was reaching even the remote corners of Washington Territory.
- The Groom Who Vanished: A Tacoma Bride’s Wedding Day Turned to Ashes
A Chicago furniture manufacturer arrived in Tacoma with a 'pretty bride' and a request for cash. By the next morning, he was gone, leaving behind a suspicious telegram from his employers and a trail of fraud that spanned the West Coast.
- The Judge, The Dog, and the Mystery of the Missing Pet
A Tacoma judge’s peaceful afternoon nap is interrupted by a miraculous reunion with his beloved terrier, who vanished months ago.
- The Lumber Barons’ Ultimatum: 'No Treaty Without Tariff Protection'
In a packed Tacoma hall in June 1904, Seattle’s top timber executives drew a hard line with Senator Fairbanks: if the U.S. wants a trade deal with Canada, it must keep lumber tariffs high—or lose the Pacific Northwest’s economic backbone.
- The Teredo Worm’s Silent Siege
A massive wheat warehouse on the Tacoma waterfront collapses after wood-boring pests hollowed out the foundation, echoing the vulnerability of the region's rapidly expanding infrastructure.
- The Scholar Who Lost His Mind to Whisky
In a Tacoma courtroom, a judge delivers a scathing eulogy for the dignity of a man who was once 'a brother of General Manager Muir,' now reduced to disorderly conduct by alcohol.
- The Day Justice Went Mad: A Proprietor’s Threat and a Drunkard’s Triumph
In a Tacoma courtroom in January 1890, the owner of the Lomar House threatened to kill a man accused of drunkenness. The court watched, entertained, and ultimately acquitted the accused after witnesses proved he was sober.
- The Vanishing Gentleman: Tacoma’s Mystery of the Empty Trunk
A well-dressed stranger pays rent in advance, checks into a boarding house, and disappears without a trace—leaving behind only a heavy trunk marked 'Prof. F.L. Hedger.' Locals fear he hasn't just moved on; they suspect a gang of thugs is operating in the city.
- The Great Tacoma License Revolt: Mayor vs. The People Over Harry Morgan’s Saloon
In a dramatic showdown at City Hall, the Tacoma Common Council voted to revoke the liquor and theater license of Harry Morgan, sparking petitions from both sides and accusations of bribery involving the *Tacoma Daily Bulletin*. But did the city really win?
- Showdown at the Waterfront: Pistol Fire at Pacific Avenue
A simmering legal dispute over valuable waterfront property exploded into violence as a landholder took up arms to halt construction crews.
- The Wild Streets of 1891 Tacoma
Footpads, sandbaggers, and burglars turned a single winter night into a crime spree across the city’s downtown.
- The Price of White Labor in the Sound's Salmon Canneries
Prominent cannery man George T. Myers threatens to abandon Puget Sound if local sentiment forces him to abandon Chinese labor for white workers.
- The Railway Hotel Trap
A scathing critique of a Northern Pacific Railroad ticket that forced passengers to stay at a specific Tacoma hotel to validate their travel.
- The Mayor Who Refused to Expel
When an outsider asked to ban Chinese residents from Tacoma, Mayor Jacob Mann stood his ground against the era's tide of exclusion.
- A Deadly Commute: The Perilous Rails of Tacoma
A group of railway laborers, hoping for a joyride around the city, encountered a tragic and fatal end when an engine struck their buggy near the wharf.
- The Wild West Street Brawl Between Two Police Chiefs
A power struggle in Tacoma turned into a street-side standoff, forcing residents to choose sides as two men claimed the title of Chief of Police.
- The Rivalry That Built the Sound
In 1887, C.B. Wright, a key figure in the development of Tacoma, reflects on the 'nip and go' panic that forced the Northern Pacific terminus to choose between Tacoma and Seattle.
- The Doctor’s Debt: A Patient’s Humiliating Public Seizure
A Tacoma woman's attempt to board a train to Chicago was halted in the cruelest fashion when a sheriff seized her luggage over an unpaid medical bill.
- A Miraculous Escape at the Old Town Mill
A worker's arm was caught in a drive belt, and his body was hurled through an eight-inch opening in the floor, yet he survived with only a broken ankle.
- The Unlikely Bond Between a Convict and His Keeper
A rare glimpse of humanity inside the grim walls of a frontier jail, where a long-term prisoner and the man paid to guard him found a surprising connection.
- The Gold Rush That Never Was
A Tacoma land speculator attempted to claim school property as a 'placer mine,' sparking a massive legal battle and accusations of salted soil.