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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 53 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 6 |
| 1860 | 12 |
| 1861 | 60 |
| 1862 | 65 |
| 1863 | 44 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 14 |
| 1876 | 10 |
| 1877 | 12 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 39 |
| 1884 | 12 |
| 1885 | 19 |
| 1886 | 11 |
| 1887 | 9 |
| 1888 | 6 |
| 1889 | 58 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 218 |
| 1892 | 194 |
| 1893 | 111 |
| 1894 | 19 |
| 1895 | 112 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 24 |
| 1904 | 6 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 95 |
| 1910 | 7 |
| 1911 | 11 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 11 |
| 1915 | 8 |
| 1916 | 11 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 13 |
| 1924 | 4 |
| 1925 | 10 |
1,327 stories
- Olympia Turns Off the Streetlights to Save $500 a Month
Facing a budget squeeze, Olympia’s city council voted to darken the streets and save $500 a month. Public-spirited citizens organized a private subscription to keep the lights burning rather than let the city go totally dark.
- The Sunday Search of Olympia's Chinese Gardens
A newly sworn customs inspector found opium hidden among vegetables and buried in boxes, arrested one man, and left the city's Chinese market gardens under guard.
- The Respectable Olympia Doctor Who May Have Been a Missing Iowa Treasurer
After Dr. S. C. Smith died in Olympia, an old army comrade wrote to ask whether the beloved physician was really Dr. S. C. Thompson, who vanished from Leon, Iowa, in 1872.
- Olympia's 1891 City Election: Ward Caucuses, Backroom Maneuvers, and a Fight Over Fair Play
As the Third Ward nominates a councilman and candidates jockey for mayor and treasurer, a taxpayer protests a plan for a mass convention that would sideline ward delegates.
- Olympia Puts Its Bond Mess on Ice—and the Mayor Objects
A council committee recommends leaving the 1891 bond tangle to the next administration; the mayor warns the city is “in a mud hole” and wants the courts to force a decision.
- The Baker Who Walked Up Fourth Street and Vanished
Herman Schwarzbach, proprietor of Olympia's city bakery, left work one Thursday afternoon and was never seen again — leaving a small debt, a failed property sale, and friends who feared foul play.
- A Sunday-Night Letter Asks Why Olympia Lets Main Street Saloons Run Loud
A reader complains of drinking, dancing and noise in the saloons below Third and demands that police keep young boys out of the crowds.
- Washington Burned the Nursery Trees—Then Came the Lawsuit
The state horticulture commissioner destroyed infected shipments from eastern nurseries. Now the nurserymen say he broke interstate commerce law.
- A Road Along the Water — and a Pitch to Merge Olympia and Tumwater
A Tumwater booster argues a beach road is the only sensible link between the two towns, and floats consolidating them into one city to build it.
- McGraw to Olympia: Cut Spending, Fix the Courts
With Washington $1.5 million in debt and revenues falling, the governor calls for retrenchment and warns that court costs shut the poor out of justice.
- The Eighteenth Promise of Mr. Savage
Olympia's street railway president vows a coal-oil motor, fifteen-minute service, and an Eastside extension—mostly, the paper suspects, for real estate.
- Edison's Noiseless Motor and the Race to Put Olympia on Rails
Two Edison men pitch a single-reduction streetcar motor to Olympia's electric company, promising rails by the Fourth of July—if property holders cooperate on subsidies.
- Childhood Accident Leaves Three Injured
A young boy playing with gunpowder in a home near Olympia caused an explosion that injured three children.
- Street Railway Lawyer Loses Case After Missing Court
A legal representative for the local street railway company loses a judgment by default after failing to appear in court.
- The Transformation of Jim
After serving time in jail, a local man known as Jim commits to learning English and adopting American customs.
- The $25,000 Schoolhouse and the Competition That Smelled
A letter writer asks the school board a sharp question: if the winning architect was allowed to redraw his plans after the price came in too high, what exactly was the competition for?
- Lawmakers Faced a $350,000 Deficit—and Made Officials Pay Personally
A bill by Senator Ide passed both houses making state managers personally liable for spending beyond appropriations, with a misdemeanor charge for creating a deficit.
- Olympia's Building-Loan Society Built Three Homes and Paid 4½ Percent
A half-year statement from the Olympia Building Loan Association showed 450 shares in force, a net profit of $634.50, and three new houses—then opened a new subscription series.
- A Horsewhipping on Fourth Street
Herman Ramm publicly thrashed Dan House with a blacksnake whip, drawing a crowd—and leaving the 'outrageous offense' unnamed.
- A Logger Who Lost His Sight, His Health and Everything in His Wife's Name
A former New York volunteer, once a man of some means, leaves Olympia for the Soldiers' Home at Orting with his property gone and his eyesight failing.
- Orchardists Want Thurston County to Stop Betting on Town Lots
A new horticultural society forms in Olympia, promising experiments in fruit, flowers and prunes—and a future beyond real-estate speculation.
- Three Tenino Men Killed Nearly Eighty Deer Out of Season
An Olympia editorial calls for prosecution after three well-known Tenino men slaughter nearly eighty deer after the season closed.
- The Legislature’s Endgame: Normal Schools Funded, a Central Board Killed
With ten days left, Washington lawmakers passed money for Cheney and Whatcom normal schools, killed a plan to consolidate state institutions, and left Cascade railroad routes in doubt.
- The University Would Pay Its Bills by Bonding Seattle Land
A bill to bond ten acres in Seattle and more than 1,000 acres in Western Washington advances, using the old land grant to pay for university improvements.
- A Stranger Got the Band Stand Contract. A Taxpayer Wants to Know Why.
In a letter to the editor, an Olympia man asks the city council why local builders who have 'grappled for their homes and families here for years' were never even invited to bid.