Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine2 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 34 |
| 1889 | 65 |
| 1891 | 31 |
| 1892 | 246 |
| 1893 | 259 |
| 1894 | 239 |
| 1895 | 182 |
1,056 stories
- Steaks, Monopoly and a Puget Sound Meat War
Seattle and Tacoma wholesalers are cutting prices and opening shops, while a Tacoma meat man blames a slump in demand and a fight to control the trade.
- Tacoma's One-Dollar Land Deal Lures an Iowa Rolling Mill
The Lake View Land Company deeds fifty acres south of Tacoma to Burlington, Iowa, mill managers for a dollar, betting a new plant will follow the subsidy.
- Mrs. ‘Jumbo’ Cantwell Comes Home: Swollen Feet, a Stolen $100, and the Remains of Coxey’s Army
The Tacoma woman returns from the Commonwealers’ march with dropsy-swollen feet, $1.15 to her name, and a story about the Seattle branch secretary who ran off with her daughter’s stocking money.
- The City Scavenger Turned Black and Died. The Coroner Said Poison.
Tacoma's city scavenger died suddenly after cramps and a blackened face. The coroner blamed poison connected with his work, then decided no inquest was necessary.
- Tacoma’s Public Works Board Accused of Coercing City Employees
Depositions before the city council allege that public works bosses used their power to make employees campaign for the waterworks purchase—and that the board paid too much for sewer pipe.
- Rainier Is Taller Than the Map: The Barometer Fight Over Washington’s Mountain
A new summit reading revived a two-year-old claim: Olympia’s Dr. Riley had used three government barometers to put Mount Rainier near 15,000 feet—well above the official 14,444.
- An Ex-Sheriff Charged With Kidnapping Over a Columbia River Fishing Feud
A former Clatsop County sheriff is arrested in Tacoma on a charge of kidnaping, the long-delayed reckoning from an 1890 raid on Washington-side fishermen accused of illegal trap fishing.
- Salted Gold and a School Section: Tacoma's Land Fight Heads to Hearing
State officials say a notorious South Tacoma placer claim was salted with gold colors, while the attorney general and ex-Governor Swineford trade charges over the investigation.
- A Temperance Minister Refuses to Preach Prohibition—or Hate
At Tacoma’s interstate temperance congress, Rev. Dean Richmond Babbitt urges patient education and rejects the A.P.A., drawing fire from fellow reformers.
- Seattle Newsboys Take Tacoma by Storm
A pack of Seattle newsboys descends on the Interstate Fair, jeers a non-union print shop, climbs the roofs, and eats Chilberg’s restaurant out of house and home.
- The Preacher, the Slanderer and the Methodist Conference
Tacoma's Methodist conference accepted a report clearing Rev. Ford of charges that he seduced a girl in Arkansas and embezzled money, while branding his accuser a slanderer.
- Seattle Congratulates Tacoma, in Incandescent Lights
Seattle's women, manufacturers and artists prepare a showy welcome for Tacoma fair visitors, complete with a glowing sign, exhibits and a dedicated march.
- The Watchdog and the Water Money: Tacoma's Utility-Fund Fight
Controller Benham refuses to sign a printing contract to protect the treasury — and a taxpayer asks why the same official let $100,000 of voter-approved water money drain away from its purpose.
- The Railroad That Ran to Nobody: Tacoma's Lake Park Line in Ownership Limbo
Union Pacific bought the ten-mile line to Lake Park and American Lake, but its earnings are now being kept while the receiver sends back no instructions.
- When a Railroad Pass Was a Bribe in a Pocket
A Tacoma editor demands Washington's lawmakers enforce the constitutional ban on free train passes, arguing the 'courtesy' bought influence one legislator at a time.
- Tacoma’s New Business Plan: Import High-Grade Opium for the Whole North
With the tariff cut, Tacoma entrepreneurs predicted they could supply wealthy opium users from Oregon to the Atlantic—and collect thousands in customs duties.
- A Live Wire Takes a Trimmer's Foot
An electric-light worker pays a brutal price for a fall across Tacoma's city wires.
- Who Gets to Build Tacoma's Harbor?
Ex-Governor Semple said the money was secured, but a state land commission hearing and waterfront lawsuits showed rival plans and private claims still controlled the tideflats.
- Tacoma’s Highest Tide Covers the Railroad Tracks
The Northern Pacific main line reopened, but branches to South Bend and Ocosta were underwater and Tacoma saw a tide higher than any on record.
- From the Pulpit, a Pastor Takes Aim at Tacoma's Mayor
Rev. Dr. Dean Richmond Babbitt compares Mayor Orr to a Roman official who looked the other way, jeers at 'brass-buttoned police' and warns the mayor he could be prosecuted for letting the law be broken.
- Night Fire on C Street: Tacoma's Laundry Goes Up in Flames
A predawn blaze destroys the Tacoma Steam Laundry and nearby shops, sending two women into the street in their nightclothes.
- Tacoma Officials Ordered to Shut Off the Water—or Else
A judge cites the mayor and public works board for contempt after they ignore an injunction to cut Clover Creek; the city's upper neighborhoods may soon pay the price.
- Tacoma's Water Works Deal Was for Eastern Capitalists All Along
C.B. Wright says he never wanted the city light and water plant for himself—the proposed buyers were New York and Boston investors, leaving the mayor waiting for an answer.
- The Adjutant General, the Tent Dealer, and the Missing $175
Tacoma's adjutant general denies trading guard business for a vote, but Jack Holleran has disappeared, leaving a disputed bill and a whiff of patronage politics.
- A Pigeon Flew 100 Miles to Report From Mount Rainier
A carrier pigeon from the Starlee-Meeker expedition delivers dispatches, tall trees, trout, and one very sleepy doctor.