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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 4 |
| 1859 | 4 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 4 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 5 |
| 1885 | 14 |
| 1886 | 4 |
| 1887 | 7 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 17 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 11 |
| 1892 | 40 |
| 1893 | 19 |
| 1894 | 19 |
| 1895 | 5 |
| 1899 | 4 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 79 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1909 | 67 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
330 stories matching hous
- The Failed Heist at Shaw’s Boarding House
An audacious attempt to rob a Tacoma mill worker's boarding house ends in a series of slapstick mishaps and a gunshot.
- 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 Women’s Crusade Against Vice
Twenty-five prominent Tacoma women demand the city council clear out gambling houses and houses of ill-repute, citing the city charter and moral degradation.
- The City Hall Landlord Problem
When Tacoma condemned land for a street project, it ended up in the house-moving business.
- Smallpox Panic in Tacoma Lodging Houses
Public health concerns arise as dozens are quarantined in local boarding houses.
- The Drunken Leap at the Tacoma Rooming House
A furniture salesman, searching for a companion named 'Alice,' broke into the wrong residence and was forced to jump from a second-story window to escape the homeowner's wrath.
- The Price of Being a 'Wide Open' Town
Tacoma’s city officials are formalizing a system of monthly 'bail' payments for gambling house owners, effectively legalizing the industry through a protection racket.
- Explosion Rocks Rooming House on Pacific Avenue
A defective chimney sparks a blaze in a three-story rooming house, leading to a mysterious explosion that shook the entire structure.
- A Desperate Plea Against the City’s Gambling Dens
A woman struggles to protect her family from the unchecked gambling houses that thrive in the shadow of Tacoma's railroad industry.
- The Shadowy 'Sailor Boarding House' Racket
Diplomats gather in Tacoma to confront the exploitative system of boarding house masters who held a monopoly on crew procurement for Pacific ships.
- Tragedy in a South Tacoma Bedroom
After an evening of drinking, a Tacoma woman dies in a fire at her home while her husband, also intoxicated, fails to save her.
- Tacoma's Suspicious Fires—and a Fire Department That Couldn't Get Water
A wave of blazes on E Street and beyond leaves homes in ashes, a hose driver suspended, an alarm delayed, and the fire chief convinced tramps set the occupied houses alight.
- New Hotel Regulations Threaten Tacoma's Small Boarding Houses
A proposed legislative act would force small rooming houses to meet strict hotel standards, placing a financial burden on widows and small-scale landlords.
- No Work, Then Gunshots: A Tacoma Family's Despair
Albert McAchren shot his wife and himself in a Tacoma lodging house after a year without steady work; his young daughter survived to tell the story.
- The Disappearing Developer
A local real estate operator vanishes, leaving behind a trail of dishonored checks, uncompleted houses, and angry creditors across Tacoma.
- The Fatal Lock: A Mother’s Visit, a Father’s Work, and Two Children Burned Alive
In January 1893, a house fire at the Kinyon mills in Tacoma claimed the lives of two young children left alone inside. The tragedy highlights a grim era where child safety was often secondary to labor demands.
- The Opium Ring Debauching Tacoma’s Messenger Boys
Detective Flannigan uncovers a ring of adults using opium and illicit lodging houses to exploit children in the messenger service.
- A Logger's Final Despair
After being robbed of his life savings in a Tacoma resort, a distraught logger takes his own life in a series of desperate acts.
- The Persistent Mystery of the Criswell House
Neighbors are in an uproar after two women broke into a Tacoma home to reclaim an infant, the latest in a string of strange baby-related incidents involving Mrs. Charles Criswell.
- The Boarding-House Ransom
When a sailor fell deathly ill in Tacoma, his boarding-house proprietor held him hostage, hoping to claim the dying man's life savings as an exorbitant medical bill.
- The Rowdy Landlords of Ninth and Elph
A morning disturbance at a Tacoma boarding house reveals a volatile scene when a constable attempts to serve an arrest warrant.
- The War on the Lincoln House
A local wagon manufacturer seeks an injunction against nearby saloons and brothels, claiming they are driving away their customers.
- The Night a Soldier Robbed the Editor's House
While the Puget Sound Herald's proprietor and his wife were away, a soldier slipped into their home—then walked back through the kitchen into the sitting room.
- Fighting Whisky and a Free Fight in Steilacoom's Streets
A dozen strangers brawl outside Jerry Dennis's house, prompting the editor to demand the disorderly den be closed.
- The Case of the Missing Suitcase
A boarder takes his landlords to court after his luggage mysteriously disappears from a local lodging house.