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.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| 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
- Rainier’s Shingle Boom and the Road Olympia Forgot
A Rainier correspondent reports new shingle mills and warns that Olympia merchants are losing rural trade to Tacoma by ignoring the roads that feed the city.
- Fair Play for the Bandstand Builders
When businessmen whispered that the contractors erecting Olympia’s bandstand were outsiders, a letter to the editor insisted that a family man who had spent $600 waiting for work deserved a fighting chance.
- The Revivalist Who Left Discord Behind
A traveling evangelist spent a summer working Puget Sound's Baptist pulpits — and the association's verdict was blunt: imposter.
- Judge Burke: Washington cannot borrow a dollar to build its capitol
Answering Populist weeklies that accused the capitol commission of planning to sink the state a million dollars into debt, commissioner Thomas Burke said the law allows exactly one funding source — 132,000 acres of granted land — and no taxes at all.
- Olympia Insists on a Harbor Line Big Enough for Its Future
After a correspondent misreports local opinion, Olympians say they back Capt. Symons' harbor plan—but want the state to extend a broad waterway all the way to Fourth Street.
- A Constitutional Oversight Stalls the Penitentiary’s Jute Plant
Lawmakers intended to renew an old appropriation for prison-made jute, but a procedural misstep holds up $10,000 and suspends work until the attorney general rules.
- A Toddler, an Axe, and a Sister's Terror at South Union
Left at play, a three-year-old swings an axe and maims her infant sister in a Thurston County farm accident that sends the child to the doctors and the older girl into hiding.
- An Editor Caught Lying About the Deal That Made a U.S. Senator
J. W. Lysons says the collector's removal had nothing to do with Boss McGraw's bargain — but the Tribune has his own dispatch from Olympia, sent during the fight, to prove otherwise.
- A Street Fight Over Page Street’s Gulch
Contractor I. Liberman prepared to bill Olympia about $100 a day after the city suspended work on an Eastside street improvement.
- The Legislature’s Unfinished Business—and the Case for a Special Session
An anonymous Olympia lawmaker told The Tribune that defective appropriation laws, unpaid citizens and stalled state business demanded a special session by December.
- He Was Not Going to the Asylum: How an Olympia Guardianship Case Was Settled
Peterfield Turpin’s family asked the court for a guardian. Rumors flew that he would be committed and his estate seized. In open court, the parties explained—and settled.
- The Sheriff Was Coming for Olympia’s Hotel. A New Company Rode In.
On the eve of a foreclosure auction, local investors incorporated a $130,000 company to buy the Hotel Olympia property and keep it out of the sheriff’s hands.
- The Democrats’ Loyalty Test in Olympia
A December 1859 caucus of Democratic territorial legislators spent the evening arguing over who was pure enough to hold House offices — and who had backed the party’s last congressional nominee.
- The Polls Closed an Hour Early, and the Court Threw the Election Out
A Jefferson County school-clerk contest reaches the state Supreme Court, where a statute's silence and a 7 p.m. closing time decide who holds office.
- The Court-Martial That Dismissed Itself
Colonel Haines walks free after a military court decides it had no authority to try him—leaving Governor Ferry to answer for the expense.
- Oregon's Lobbyists Descend on Olympia for the Lewis and Clark Fair
Washington legislators balk at donating $200,000 to Portland's 1905 exposition, as Senator J. P. Sharp calls it an indiscriminate giveaway of public funds.
- The Search for the Perfect Late-Season Cherry
Horticulturists in Washington are celebrating the discovery of two new, hardy cherry varieties that could outshine the Bing.
- The Bachelor Doctor Who Died Walking Home Along the Rails
Dr. G. S. Smith, a familiar but solitary figure in Olympia, was found dying near the long trestle after visiting a family in Tumwater.
- A Cow, a Pistol, and a Pitchfork
Two men east of Olympia fought over a single cow—one with a revolver, the other with a pitchfork—and then showed up at the same doctor's office to get patched up.
- The Railroad Wanted 400 Feet; the Landowners Said 200
When the Northern Pacific tried to fence a 400-foot right-of-way near Bucoda, neighboring property owners pulled up the posts and dared the railroad to sue.
- A Chinese Resident, a Hatchet, and a Lenient Sentence in Olympia
Mayor Horr and other officials testified to Jim's good character before he received 60 days and a $100 fine, a punishment some in the courtroom thought too light.
- A Town Buries a Judge
Olympia’s bar and Masons escort John G. Sparks to the Masonic cemetery, with resolutions praising a lawyer, magistrate, and civic fixture.
- "My Idol Is Broken": A Governor Denounces a Senator to His Face
Miles C. Moore accuses John B. Allen of selling out an old friend to climb into the Senate, and prints the speech he says he delivered at Allen's headquarters.
- City Hall Takes On the Awnings of Main Street
Olympia's city attorney confirms the council has the power to remove awnings and posts from private property along Main Street, clearing the way for a downtown cleanup.
- The Bond Election That Wasn't Legal
Olympia's council pushed the city into debt and ordered a vote before checking whether it had the authority to do so — then spent public money to learn it hadn't. The Tribune, having warned them, savours the mess.