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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'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.
- The grueling, mountain-carving work of mapping the Puget Sound
A survey crew spends the summer hacking paths through the dense, uncharted forests of the Olympic Peninsula and Straits of Fuca to measure the rugged frontier.
- The Struggle for Equitable Taxation in Early Washington
An open letter from 1878 explores the difficulties of managing state revenue and the inherent failures of centralized 'equalization' boards.
- Preparing for the Territorial Vote
Governor Elisha P. Ferry issues a formal proclamation for the November 1876 general election, including a critical vote on whether to draft a new State Constitution.
- The Unsinkable 'Old Settler' of the Olympia Tide-Flats
An enterprising Olympia pioneer launches a custom-built, shallow-draft vessel to dominate the local oyster trade.
- The Price of a Capitol Seat
When the Territorial Legislature convened in Olympia, residents hiked rent to price gouge the lawmakers, sparking a legislative push to abandon the capital city.
- Olympia prepares for Governor McGraw's inauguration
As Washington transitions from its first state administration to the next, the capital is bustling with political maneuvering and preparations for the ceremony.
- The $10,000 Practical Joke on Representative Judson
Legislators in Olympia pull a prank by forging a bill in the name of an unsuspecting Representative, only to have it officially recorded in the House journal.
- The Rising Well of Olympia
A local well is mysteriously emerging from the ground, brick by brick, defying gravity and logic.
- The State's Dairy 'Boarders' Problem
Agricultural Commissioner H. T. Graves warns that one-third of Washington's dairy cows are failing to pay their keep.