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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 9 |
| 1876 | 41 |
| 1877 | 28 |
| 1878 | 14 |
| 1879 | 6 |
| 1880 | 6 |
| 1882 | 7 |
| 1883 | 22 |
| 1884 | 20 |
| 1885 | 34 |
| 1886 | 12 |
| 1887 | 15 |
| 1888 | 24 |
| 1889 | 47 |
| 1890 | 7 |
| 1891 | 35 |
| 1892 | 88 |
| 1893 | 71 |
| 1894 | 103 |
| 1895 | 151 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 11 |
| 1899 | 20 |
| 1900 | 5 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 48 |
| 1904 | 28 |
| 1905 | 5 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 20 |
| 1909 | 60 |
| 1910 | 17 |
| 1911 | 7 |
| 1912 | 12 |
| 1914 | 10 |
| 1915 | 11 |
| 1916 | 23 |
| 1917 | 10 |
| 1918 | 3 |
| 1923 | 7 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1929 | 2 |
99 stories matching free
- The Grocer’s Promise: Delivering Freshness in Early Snohomish
Before the age of supermarket chains, local merchants like J.H. Hilton built community commerce with free delivery and specialized goods on Union Avenue.
- The Foundation of Washington State’s Civil Liberties
A look back at the original constitutional guarantees of free speech, property rights, and due process that shaped early Snohomish and the state.
- The Workingman’s Haven in Old Seattle
A look back at the 'American House' boarding operation, offering weekly room and board at the edge of the Seattle waterfront.
- The Free Real Estate Gamble of 1876
Facing a housing crunch, a prominent developer offers free land to anyone willing to build—a desperate move to spur growth in North Seattle.
- The Centennial Saloon Mystery
After much anticipation, a elusive character has finally been spotted at the local tavern, proving that some things in Seattle never change.
- The Forgotten Soldiers: A Post-War Reckoning
Decades after the Civil War, Snohomish's local paper draws a bitter parallel between the veterans who fought to 'free the negro' and the rising tide of impoverished, displaced laborers struggling for survival in 1877.
- The Professional Pessimists of Early Seattle
A 19th-century editorial takes aim at the 'croakers'—the local doomsayers who claimed the town's prosperity was always on the verge of collapse.
- The Fight for the Soil: Washington's Early Constitutional Crisis
An 1870s editorial argues that without strict land ownership caps, Washington Territory faces a future of feudalism and labor exploitation.
- The Panic Over 'Free Love' and Women's Rights in Early Seattle
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch decries the growing suffrage movement, labeling advocates as threats to the 'sanctity of the marriage relation.'
- The Great Log Boom Break at Ebey Slough
A river disaster threatens the livelihoods of local loggers as timber worth thousands breaks free from the Snohomish County river system.
- The 'No Chinese Employed' Sign at the River Side Hotel
A hotel proprietor in the Skagit Valley advertises his business with a exclusionary labor policy reflecting the era's intense nativist sentiment.
- The 10-Cent Alternative to the Saloon
A local leader proposes a 'reading room and coffee house' to offer Seattle's young men a moral, affordable sanctuary away from the city's liquor dens.
- The Exclusionist Policies of the American House
A Seattle boarding house advertises a 'No Chinese Employed' policy, reflecting the volatile labor and racial tensions of the 19th-century Pacific Northwest.
- The American House: A Seattle Lodging Haven in 1879
Before the city became a tech hub, the American House offered travelers and workers a reliable place to stay, promising fair rates and the promise of no Chinese labor.
- The Bigamist Who Beat the System: John Miller’s Shocking Acquittal
A notorious fraudster accused of stealing $10,000 from Leland Stanford’s Credit Mobilier pool walks free for lack of evidence, prompting a sarcastic editorial jab at Oregon Republicans.
- The Temperance Hotel of La Conner
An 1880s hotel proprietor promises a clean, quiet, and liquor-free establishment for the weary traveler.
- The Seattle Doctrine: 'Live and Let Live' in 1876
An editorial from the pioneer era argues that local business growth shouldn't be a zero-sum game, warning against the 'vampire' spirit of monopoly.
- The Persistent Promise of Easy Money
A classic 19th-century 'work from home' pitch promises Snohomish laborers a fortune for minimal effort.
- 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.
- A Night at the Hall Ruined by Rowdyism
A gratuitous public entertainment in Seattle is brought to an abrupt and disorderly end by an unruly crowd, leaving the organizer out of pocket.
- The Great Moss Panic of 1878
Seattle's early city council once declared war on rooftop greenery to prevent the city from burning down.
- The Temperance House: A Traveler's Refuge on Second Street
For the weary visitor to 1870s Seattle, a newly constructed boarding house promises 'neatness and dispatch' with a touch of European hospitality.
- God and the Daily Grind in 1878 Seattle
A glimpse into the moral anxieties and spiritual life of a burgeoning pioneer town, where the pulpit met the realities of guilt and sin.
- The Myth of the Land Monopoly
An 1877 Seattle newspaper sets the record straight for prospective homesteaders: unlike California, Washington Territory is free from the crushing weight of Spanish land grants and speculative hoarding.
- The Roller Rink That Saved Seattle’s Winter Evenings
Before the city lights were bright, the local Pavilion offered a refuge from the damp, offering lessons and laughter to the residents of 1872 Seattle.