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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 6 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 12 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 10 |
| 1886 | 5 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 15 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1892 | 26 |
| 1893 | 27 |
| 1894 | 23 |
| 1895 | 27 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 12 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 32 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1916 | 5 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
12 stories matching intox
- The Price of Living 'Down on the Sawdust'
A Seattle laborer was fined $5 after evicting his partner for public intoxication, offering a stark look at the criminalization of poverty and survival in the 1870s.
- The Temperance Experiment: A Dry Billiard Parlor in La Conner
An 1878 advertisement for a local business offers a look at the unconventional rise of 'temperance billiard halls' that combined community recreation with strict abstinence.
- The Man Who Mistook the Dock for a Bath
A intoxicated sawmill driver nearly drowned in Seattle’s harbor after mistaking the dark water of Yeager's Wharf for a swimming hole.
- The Drunken Gentleman of Commercial Street
A tipsy passenger’s chaotic attempt to board a streetcar and his subsequent social performance in 1877 Seattle.
- The Pioneer Struggle to Fund Washington's Common Schools
An 1877 legislative session in Olympia debates selling off University lands to fund the territory's school districts, highlighting the precarious nature of public education in the early days of the Washington Territory.
- The Forgotten Mother on the Sidewalk
A chance encounter between a group of children and an intoxicated woman in the street reveals a heartbreaking moment of human connection.
- The Cigar Drunkards of Seattle
In 1877, police were baffled by a new phenomenon: Native Americans getting intoxicated not from liquor, but from smoking cigars. As the city grappled with enforcement of temperance laws, this bizarre loophole left officers scratching their heads and citizens demanding new legislation.
- The Hotel Clerk’s Cold Comfort
A traveler spends a night of debauchery and wakes up convinced he’s been robbed—only to find the city's hospitality was more secure than his own memory.
- The False Promises of the Arctic Gold Rush
An 1877 dispatch from Seattle warns local laborers that chasing get-rich-quick mining dreams in the North leads only to bankruptcy, while those who commit to farming the region’s soil build actual wealth.
- The Man Who Couldn't Sleep: A Murderer's Five-Year Nightmare Ends in Seattle
William Devitt, a fugitive from a Pennsylvania railroad murder, surrenders to Seattle police after five years of wandering the South, claiming his conscience has finally caught up with him.
- The License Law: Who Gets to Drink in Snohomish?
A new interpretation of the Territory's temperance laws gives local boards sweeping power to deny liquor licenses based on 'moral character,' effectively letting neighbors veto their neighbors' businesses.
- 1876 Snohomish Court Targets Indigenous Gatherings and Brothels
In March 1876, Judge Lewis charged the first Snohomish County District Court grand jury to address public nuisances, including Indigenous gatherings and brothels, while also holding county officials accountable for fee books.