Research the archive
Narrow 22,457 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.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 3 |
| 1858 | 11 |
| 1859 | 14 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1863 | 5 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 12 |
| 1879 | 5 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 50 |
| 1884 | 21 |
| 1885 | 42 |
| 1886 | 25 |
| 1887 | 70 |
| 1888 | 34 |
| 1889 | 75 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 45 |
| 1892 | 247 |
| 1893 | 240 |
| 1894 | 226 |
| 1895 | 28 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 31 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 59 |
| 1904 | 764 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 5 |
| 1909 | 631 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1916 | 6 |
| 1917 | 4 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 3 |
| 1925 | 1 |
2,703 stories
- The Great Land Grab: Tacoma Citizens Unite Against Northern Pacific’s ‘Squatter’ Tactics
In a packed hall at Reinig’s Hall, leading citizens condemn the railroad’s seizure of public lands and its attempt to claim hundreds of thousands of acres for a coal line that will never be built.
- The Ghost of Tacoma's Original Downtown
Before the railroad turned Tacoma into a boomtown, the city's future was fought over by competing pioneers and land speculators.
- The Dynamite Murder of Tacoma: A Mob’s Verdict
In the early hours of January 1890, a Tacoma man was dragged from jail and hanged by a vigilante mob for blowing up a house and killing a sleeping family. The Seattle press offers a chilling reflection on whether such 'swift justice' is ever truly justified.
- The Judge Who Wanted to Join the Salvation Army
Probate Judge Wickersham faces seduction charges in Tacoma; his defense seeks a venue change as he jokes about his future with the Salvation Army.
- The Wickersham Scandal: A Judge’s Honor on Trial
In a Tacoma courtroom that captivated the Pacific Northwest, Miss Brantner takes the stand for days, detailing alleged improprieties with Probate Judge Wickersham. The trial exposes a web of land fraud, cocaine use, and social climbing, culminating in a judge’s furious rebuke of a laughing crowd.
- The Trial of Judge Wickersham: A Tacoma Scandal Over Land, Lies, and 'Delirium'
In February 1889, the trial of a powerful federal judge in Tacoma exposed a web of political corruption, land fraud, and sexual scandal involving a young woman named Sadie Brantner.
- The Wig and the Wire: How a Tacoma Newspaper Owner Tried to Destroy a Judge
In the sensational Wickersham trial of 1889, prosecutor R.P. Radebaugh’s own past and his alleged conspiracy to frame Judge Wickersham for 'immorality' were laid bare in court.
- The Railway Bribe on the Reservation
A railroad company agent admits to a systematic scheme of paying Puyallup men to secure a right-of-way through their land.
- The Day the Wind Took Down Tacoma’s New Buildings
A fierce storm topples a nearly finished commercial building, claiming the life of a prominent contractor and leaving a city in shock.
- The Forgotten Prisoners of McNeil Island
Thirteen men held in limbo for years, caught between a nation that didn't want them and a border that refused their return.
- The Mystery of the Murdered Man's Two Wives
A shocking revelation in the case of C. C. Grant suggests the victim may have been a bigamist, or perhaps the victim of a clever fraud.
- The Railroad’s Big Heist: Northern Pacific Claims Indian Land It Doesn’t Own
As the Puyallup Reservation faces a legal siege from the Northern Pacific Railway, federal officials warn that a treaty-protected land grab could strip thousands of acres from Native families for pennies on the dollar.
- The Six Who Vanished: Tacoma’s Senatorial Scandal and the Art of Political Silence
In the wake of a bitter Washington State Senate race, the six key allies of defeated candidate Judge Calkins have disappeared from public view, leaving behind a trail of bribery allegations and a furious debate over whether the election was stolen or won by superior strategy.
- Eviction Threatens Historical Black Settlement in Tacoma
A US Marshal is ordered to collect rent from 450 squatters living on a 163-acre tract established by early Black settlers.
- The Myth of the Promised Land: 1885
A reader challenges the city's booster press, exposing the gap between industrial promises and the reality of a struggling population.
- Puyallup Families Finally Win Title to Their Land
While the President ordered land titles for the Puyallup people in 1884, a corrupt 'ring' of speculators held up the process to seize the property for profit.
- The Deadly Ambush at Council Prairie
An eye-witness account of a harrowing escape during the Puget Sound Indian War, describing a fatal skirmish, a desperate trek through winter swamps, and the loss of Colonel A. Benton Moses.
- The Ghost of Fort Steilacoom: Workers Cheated Out of Their Wages
A group of laborers at the new asylum construction site speak out against contractors and commissioners who left them unpaid and used rot-prone materials.
- The Cannery Confrontation: Tacoma’s Labor Fight Over Chinese Workers
When an agent attempted to bring Chinese laborers to a Tacoma cannery in 1887, city officials clashed over the rule of law versus the intense public anti-Chinese sentiment.
- The Fight for Cheap Labor in the Pacific Northwest
In 1887, prominent Seattle and Tacoma business leaders sat down to argue over the 'necessity' of the Chinese exclusion movement and the future of regional trade.
- The Struggle for Tacoma’s 'Salvation'
A committee of business owners meets to address the proposal of re-introducing Chinese workers to a city that prided itself on their total expulsion.
- The Shackled Sailors of the Karoo
A federal judge in Tacoma intervenes to protect a crew 'inveigled' onto a British ship, exposing a brutal system of forced labor and maritime exploitation.
- The Puyallup Land Dispute: A Forgotten Fight for City Growth
In 1892, Representative John L. Wilson proposed liquidating the Puyallup Indian Reservation to spur the growth of Tacoma, highlighting the long-standing tension between tribal sovereignty and urban expansion.
- The Horror in the Cabin: A Tacoma Tragedy
A brutal murder of a fruit dealer in his sleep reveals the violent shadow of immigrant debt and desperation in 1892 Tacoma.
- The Cabin on South Nineteenth Street
A brutal murder in Tacoma’s Italian community shocks the city, leading to a swift conviction of a man who carried holy relics to his own trial.