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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 4 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 7 |
| 1863 | 4 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 19 |
| 1877 | 12 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1880 | 5 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 17 |
| 1884 | 8 |
| 1885 | 24 |
| 1886 | 8 |
| 1887 | 14 |
| 1888 | 15 |
| 1889 | 33 |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1891 | 24 |
| 1892 | 56 |
| 1893 | 81 |
| 1894 | 65 |
| 1895 | 52 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 14 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 13 |
| 1904 | 22 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 5 |
| 1909 | 9 |
| 1910 | 3 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1917 | 4 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
48 stories matching custom
- The Bread and Butter Vote: How the Custom House Ring Rigged Port Townsend Politics
In a stunning display of patronage politics in September 1876, federal employees in Port Townsend marched in lockstep to defeat local opposition, proving that government jobs were still the ultimate political currency.
- The $350 Fine That Stopped a Ship: Smuggling and Sovereignty on the Strait
In July 1876, the schooner Superior was seized by U.S. authorities for entering Victoria without clearance, sparking a legal battle over customs laws and the volatile border between Washington Territory and British Columbia.
- The Sacred Garden of the Frontier
A look at the sentimental and pious customs of 1878 Seattle, where the living turned to the Victorian language of flowers to honor the dead.
- The Collector’s Trap: A Seattle Customs Scandal
A clever merchant’s attempt to recoup a fine through a legislative loophole backfires, leaving him out $500 in an era of federal bureaucracy.
- 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 Steamer Nellie's Grand Entrance
Snohomish celebrates the launch of a custom-built steamer, signaling a new era of river navigation.
- The Riverboat Gamble
A local man's attempt to navigate the Snohomish River with a custom-built craft ends in a soggy, expensive, and lesson-filled disaster.
- The Boom Town That Water Built
A look at the commerce, civic ambition, and social life of Port Townsend as it established itself as the Pacific Northwest’s primary port of entry.
- The Natchez of Puget Sound: A Commercial Hub Rising from the Mist
A dispatch from Port Townsend reveals a bustling port city defined by its Customs House and steamship trade, sharply contrasting with Seattle's own rapid development.
- The 'Disgusting Custom' of Victorian Child-Kissing
As diphtheria claimed lives along the Pacific Coast, public health experts in 1877 issued a stark warning against social rituals that helped the contagion spread.
- The Tax War That Almost Killed Seattle's Economy
In 1877, a federal order threatened to strip Seattle of its tax base by forcing steamships to register their 'home port' in Port Townsend. The local press warned that without this revenue, the county would collapse.
- The Hustlers of the Waterfront: Regulating Seattle's Hotel Runners
In 1878, the Seattle City Council cracked down on the aggressive solicitors who haunted the docks, requiring them to wear badges and pay a quarterly tax for the right to hawk boarding houses.
- The Great Oyster Heist of 1876
Two hungry gentlemen vanish into thin air, leaving their tab and their fried oysters to a couple of unsuspecting strangers.
- Settling Up Before the New Year
A Snohomish City blacksmith issues a stern public notice for customers to settle their debts before 1879.
- The Unbeatable Guarantee of Elliott M. Best
In 1876, a Seattle shoemaker promised that if his hand-sewn boots broke, he’d replace them for free.
- The Great Chicken Scandal of 1877
A wave of missing poultry in early Seattle highlights the city's growing anxiety over poverty, xenophobia, and the 'vagabond' population of the waterfront.
- The Chinese Doctor’s Radical Revival
A Seattle man, presumed dead after two weeks of typhoid fever, was brought back to life by a doctor’s unconventional intervention.
- The Newspaper Wars of 1878
A Snohomish editor accuses a rival publication of blatant plagiarism, citing the biblical commandment against stealing.
- The Sugar Rush: Seattle's Pacific Ambitions in 1876
A century and a half ago, Seattle business leaders were banking on a trade treaty with Hawaii to turn the city into the West Coast’s sugar refining capital.
- The 'Inner Man' Restored in Pioneer Seattle
A classic 1876 appeal to the hungry traveler invites patrons to the Puget Sound Restaurant, promising a reprieve from the exhaustion of the frontier.
- The Frontier General Store: An Engine of Commerce in Stanwood
A look at the thriving retail trade in Snohomish County during the late 19th century, where general stores served as essential hubs for agriculture and logging life.
- The New Era of Women in the Workplace
A glimpse into 1875 Liverpool shows women claiming their space in commerce, prompting a reflection on the future of labor in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Price of a Smuggled Vice
Two brothers arrested with thirty pounds of opium off the steamer California face the cold reality of a federal court judgment.
- The Great Congressional Shutdown of 1876
A historic clash between the House and Senate left federal workers across the country—and the crew of a local Revenue Cutter—stranded without pay.
- The Pirate King of Seattle
A real-life adventure of a man who survived a childhood on a pirate ship and returned to Seattle to recruit a crew for a treasure hunt.