Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1872 | 3 |
| 1876 | 34 |
| 1877 | 23 |
| 1878 | 11 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 5 |
| 1883 | 28 |
| 1884 | 20 |
| 1885 | 22 |
| 1886 | 17 |
| 1887 | 9 |
| 1888 | 12 |
| 1889 | 40 |
| 1890 | 10 |
| 1891 | 35 |
| 1892 | 89 |
| 1893 | 85 |
| 1894 | 103 |
| 1895 | 112 |
| 1897 | 6 |
| 1898 | 9 |
| 1899 | 21 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1902 | 3 |
| 1903 | 42 |
| 1904 | 26 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 12 |
| 1909 | 37 |
| 1910 | 8 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 13 |
| 1915 | 10 |
| 1916 | 21 |
| 1917 | 12 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 6 |
| 1924 | 3 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
71 stories matching seven
- The Price of Debt in 1877 Seattle
Foreclosure notices reveal the rapid shift in property ownership as King County land was liquidated at the courthouse steps.
- A Seven-Foot Sea Serpent Washes Up Near Cape Flattery
Capt. Stratton of Neah Bay brings a finned, many-toothed monster to Port Townsend, and the local editor reaches for the Laocoön to describe it.
- The Bank That Ate Seven Men: A Collapse in the Blue Point Claim
In a gruesome industrial accident on April 13, 1877, a bank of earth at the Blue Point mine in Smartsville buried seven miners alive and wounded six more, halting business for miles around.
- When a Railroad Held the Territory Hostage: The 1877 Fight Over the Northern Pacific Land Grant
Governor Ferry's message to the Legislature proposes a 10-year extension for the Northern Pacific—but warns the territory will be crippled if the western terminus lands in Portland instead of Puget Sound.
- A Seven-Ton Crushing on Mill Street
A laborer’s insistence on helping a heavy team leads to a gruesome injury in the heart of 1876 Seattle.
- Grand Jury Exposes Seattle Brothels and Liquor Sales to Native Americans
In September 1876, a King County grand jury reported widespread lawlessness in Seattle, including indictments for selling liquor to Native Americans, running gambling houses, and maintaining public nuisances.
- The Tragedy of Booth: A Fatal Mistake with a Revolver
A young man preparing to move his hogs north from Island County suffered a gruesome accident when he mistook a loaded chamber for an empty one, resulting in a bullet that pierced his heart and shoulder.
- The Bankruptcies of 1878: A Wave of 'Fraudulent' Insolvency?
As financial panic grips the Pacific Coast, Seattle editors decry a suspicious surge in businesses filing for bankruptcy before new laws take effect.
- The Case for Universal Schooling in the Territory
An early local advocate argues that education, not incarceration, is the only path toward ending poverty and crime in the Washington Territory.
- The Automatic Suitor-Smacker
A fed-up father builds a booby-trapped gate to drive away his daughters' persistent suitors, turning a domestic headache into a mechanical triumph.
- The Boom on Front and Columbia
As Seattle grew in the summer of 1878, new tenements began rising on the waterfront, promising modern conveniences in the shadow of the bustling docks.
- The Battle for the Sunday Morning Calm
When Seattle’s businesses first debated the secular 'day of rest,' local editors questioned if the city’s newspapers should be forced to observe the Sabbath.
- The Last Great Salmon Run of 1876
While Seattle’s modern relationship with the Duwamish is defined by restoration, a century-old dispatch reveals the sheer industrial scale of the salmon harvest that once powered the region’s early economy.
- The Cattle Drive Through Seven Feet of Snow
Defying winter, a determined group of drovers successfully pushed fifty head of cattle through the Snoqualmie Pass, a feat never before recorded this early in the year.
- The Boomtown Blueprint: Seattle's 1877 Real Estate Pitch
As lumber prices cratered and labor became cheap, local papers urged investors to stop building shoddy shacks and start constructing 'neat, commodious cottages' for high-interest returns.
- The Riverside Hotel and Logging Outfit Up for Grabs
William Romines lists his Snohomish hotel and a complete logging setup for sale in a 1878 advertisement.
- The Search for a Missing Horse
A classic 1876 plea for the return of a stolen or wandered animal highlights the reliance on equine transit in pioneer-era Seattle.
- The Sawmill Man’s Dream of Refinement
A boisterous sawmill owner, caught drunk and disorderly in Seattle, offers a surprisingly poetic vision of domesticity to a judge in 1878.
- A Seven-Day Ordeal at Sea: The City of Panama Limps into Port Townsend
A midnight collision with a lumber schooner, a hurricane off the Oregon coast, and a pointed comparison to the steamer Pacific — which went down with more than 200 souls aboard.
- The Great Log Jam: A River of Lost Timber
In March 1877, a sudden rise in the Skykomish River swept away thousands of feet of logs belonging to local sawmills, turning a potential fortune into driftwood.
- A Daring Rescue at the Waterfront
A young boy pushed into the water from a wharf is saved by a quick-thinking mate from a nearby steamer.
- Nineteen Sailors Survive a Wreck Off Cape Flattery
The ship Commodore struck near Neah Bay in 1877, but its entire crew made it ashore, found shelter with a local family, and was ferried back to Port Townsend.
- The Race That Beat the Sea: How a Local Yacht Outpaced the Coast
Captain Burns’ Pacific coaster claims victory in a thrilling seven-round duel against the Dashing Wave, proving that beating to windward is what truly tells.
- The $6 Million Secret: How Seattle’s Future Railroads Were Sold to Washington Politicians
A shocking dispatch reveals that the Northern Pacific Railroad and its associated land companies were secretly divided among top U.S. Senators, Grant, and a 'army of lobbyists'—proving that the infrastructure shaping Puget Sound was built on political patronage.
- The Saw That Conquered the Snohomish Timber Frontier
Before high-tech machinery, local loggers relied on the 'Silver Steel' saw, a tool marketed as the most efficient way to fell the giants of Washington Territory.