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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 53 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 6 |
| 1860 | 12 |
| 1861 | 58 |
| 1862 | 65 |
| 1863 | 44 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 14 |
| 1876 | 9 |
| 1877 | 11 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 35 |
| 1884 | 11 |
| 1885 | 18 |
| 1886 | 10 |
| 1887 | 9 |
| 1888 | 6 |
| 1889 | 57 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 212 |
| 1892 | 184 |
| 1893 | 105 |
| 1894 | 17 |
| 1895 | 111 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 23 |
| 1904 | 5 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 94 |
| 1910 | 7 |
| 1911 | 11 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 11 |
| 1915 | 8 |
| 1916 | 11 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 13 |
| 1924 | 2 |
| 1925 | 10 |
1,280 stories
- The Olympia Undertaker’s Strange Discovery
A man’s beard reportedly continued to grow for twenty years inside his coffin, eventually filling the space.
- Coon v. Hay: When a Newspaper Ad Became an Election Law Fight
Former Lt. Gov. Charles E. Coon asked the state Supreme Court to rehear his suit against M. E. Hay, hoping to settle whether candidates who buy newspaper ads are barred from office.
- The Attorney General Says Near-Beer Is Still Beer
Ruling on a Lewis County saloon closes the loophole that let 'temperance' drinks flow in dry towns: if it has any alcohol in it and you drink it, Olympia says it's liquor.
- A Farmer Denies a Backroom Deal — and Pitches His County's Wheat
W. C. Bush of Bush's Prairie says he may run for the senate to help Thurston County's World's Fair exhibit, but flatly denies the rumor that Judge Robinson ever promised him the seat.
- The Courthouse Architect, the Commissioners, and a $458 Bill Nobody Wants to Pay
The man who designed Thurston County's new courthouse demands the rest of his fee; the commissioners say he broke his contract and has been paid enough.
- Olympia’s Street Railway Is Mortgaged—Horses and All
A $222 chattel mortgage on the track and a lien on the company’s horses expose the shaky finances behind Olympia’s experiment with a naphtha motor car.
- A Faculty Feud Shakes Olympia Collegiate Institute
Students and faculty were assembled to hear Rev. Dr. Ford explain a dispute between two instructors; Professor Jones resigned and two students were dismissed for “unbecoming conduct.”
- Olympia’s Fight Over Who Should Judge the Cities
A bill to abolish municipal courts set Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane against one another—and exposed a dispute over whether justice could be run more cheaply by justices of the peace.
- The Senate Kills the Railroad Rate Bill, and the Party Loses Face
An editorial lashes the state senate for 'slaughtering' the Helm bill regulating railroad freights and fares, despite the Republican platform and Governor McGraw's own demand for fairness to the public.
- Olympia's grand new courthouse rises — without its clock
The tower climbs to 149 feet, but the commissioners have decided against the $1,000 clock, and townspeople are not pleased.
- A One-House Legislature: Thirty-Four Days, Five Laws
The fourth Washington legislature had burned more than half its allotted time and signed just five bills into law—because each chamber ignored the other's work.
- A Legislative Cleanup for Washington's Tide Lands and School Lands
A joint committee found no corruption in the state land office but recommended abolishing costly local tide-land appraisers, trimming the land cruisers, and centralizing public-land oversight.
- Who Gets the Salmon? A Fish-Trap Bill Stirs a Fight Over Foreign Canners
A Blaine sawyer told Olympia that the Biggs fish bill would hand the Fraser River fishery to a few wealthy trap owners—and to British Columbia canners.
- Seattle and Spokane School Boards Fight a $10-per-Child Funding Bill
The two city boards petitioned the state Senate against the Rogers school bill, arguing that its per-capita apportionment discriminated against cities and dumped an unjust burden on urban taxpayers.
- Hanford Opened the Boardroom to Outside Capital
A bill letting a majority of a Washington corporation's trustees reside out of state sailed through the House — the latest move in a state selling itself to Eastern money and industry.
- Two Small Boys Run Away to Live in the Woods—With Muskets but No Ammunition
A pair of Olympia schoolboys declared independence and set up camp up the bay, but their lack of provisions and a father’s search brought them home.
- Olympia’s new broom factory wants to sweep the market — and keep it local
A carload of broom corn and machinery is due from Chicago, and George W. Ellis promises three jobs and brooms made on Main Street.
- A One-Man Supreme Court: Olympia Weighs 500 Cases and 16-Hour Reading Days
A legislative investigation hears that Washington’s high court has misstated facts and been crushed by its workload — with one justice sometimes reading an entire case alone.
- A Missing Clause Stalls the Road Through the Cascades
Whatcom and Skagit expected a governor's commission and an early start. The enrolled bill in Olympia had lost its emergency clause, and the delay was already being blamed on the wrong people.
- Governor Disbands Ten Militia Companies in Small-Town Washington
A new military law concentrates the National Guard in Seattle and Spokane, leaving Klickitat County with no militia at all.
- The Round-Faced Commissioner and the Judge on Trial
San Juan County's own officials were hauled to Olympia to vouch for a judge's character — and the Seattle papers made sport of them.
- The High-Tech Logging Boom on the Deschutes
A glimpse into a massive 1882 timber operation near Olympia, where steam power and railroad infrastructure were transforming the Pacific Northwest forest into an industrial machine.
- The Onions That Proved the Sound Wasn't a Wasteland
When skeptics doubted the agricultural potential of Western Washington, one local editor pointed to the bounty of the wharves to silence the critics.
- The Last Prisoner of the Thurston County Jail
While the territory debates the future of its legal system, one man finds a solitary rhythm in his cell.
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die: A Suicide Attempt in Olympia
In a grim display of resilience, a man named June Hickey survived a lethal dose of antimony in an Olympia hotel last week, defying the finality of his own design.