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 |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 3 |
| 1858 | 5 |
| 1859 | 7 |
| 1860 | 3 |
| 1861 | 11 |
| 1862 | 5 |
| 1863 | 5 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 74 |
| 1877 | 55 |
| 1878 | 37 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 10 |
| 1882 | 9 |
| 1883 | 85 |
| 1884 | 32 |
| 1885 | 56 |
| 1886 | 44 |
| 1887 | 22 |
| 1888 | 28 |
| 1889 | 49 |
| 1890 | 13 |
| 1891 | 46 |
| 1892 | 119 |
| 1893 | 145 |
| 1894 | 119 |
| 1895 | 132 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 44 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 20 |
| 1905 | 5 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 27 |
| 1909 | 27 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 7 |
| 1916 | 13 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
176 stories matching steamer
- The Steamer Nellie's Grand Entrance
Snohomish celebrates the launch of a custom-built steamer, signaling a new era of river navigation.
- A Ferry Before the Ferry: The Fight to Replace Open Boats on Admiralty Inlet
Whidbey Islanders were crossing to Port Townsend in open rowboats through tide rips and chopping seas. Local merchants and an island resident with $4,000 wanted piers, a steamer and a regular route.
- The Smallpox Ship at the Wharf
In September 1876, Port Townsend citizens met at the Old Court House to demand accountability after the steamer Dakota brought smallpox into their port.
- The River Lifeline of Early Snohomish
Operating under Captain J. S. Hill, the steamer Fanny Lake provided essential freight and transit services for the growing Snohomish community.
- The Alexander: A 170-Foot Steamer Launches at Port Ludlow
McAllister Bros. launch a 600-ton steamer built to run 15 miles an hour—one of the most powerful boats on Puget Sound.
- Man Overboard: A Desperate Rescue Off the Port Townsend Wharf
When a crewman is swept off the steamer North Pacific just after she leaves the dock, two boats race the heavy swell to pull him from the water alive.
- The Unlucky Snohomish Mule
A failed effort to board the steamer Zephyr ends in tragedy for a local man’s animal.
- The Gambler’s Pistol and the Marshal’s Mercy
A violent confrontation on a Tacoma wharf in 1876 reveals the raw, lawless edge of early Pacific Northwest frontier justice.
- The Steamer's Narrow Escape
A brush with disaster on the Snohomish River turns into a local scandal involving the engine room and a bottle of spirits.
- The Steamer Fanny Gets Stuck on a Wharf
A routine docking in Seattle goes wrong when the tide turns, leaving a steamer mangled and its captain scrambling for repairs.
- The Midnight Elopement on the Sound
When parents blocked a teenage romance in Port Gamble, a sympathetic reverend and a fast steamer turned a family feud into a dramatic escape across the border.
- The Unluckiest Farmer on the Swinomish Flats
Samuel Calhoun had already lost a fortune in grain. Then the steamer Dispatch capsized with another $1,000 of his crop aboard.
- The Wedding That Lit Up Snohomish: A Steamer’s Arrival and a Night of Revelry
When the steamer Millie docked with its popular proprietor Benj. Smith Earp and his new bride, the town turned out in force for one of the most brilliant social events ever seen in Snohomish.
- The Day Seattle’s Water Pipe Factory Saved Itself
While the rest of the country sweats through a historic heatwave, Tumwater’s industrial engine roars night and day to keep the city supplied.
- The City That Couldn't Host Its Guests
As steamers bring hundreds of travelers to Seattle, local hotels are full and a new building sits empty in legal limbo, leaving strangers sleeping on docks.
- The Great Snohomish Desertion: A Husband Left Penniless by His Wife’s Flight
In a scandal that gripped the small river town in early 1877, a man returned from a logging trip to find his wife had vanished with their cash, leaving him stranded and destitute.
- The Hatch Left Open: How a Passenger's Injury Put a Steamship Under Arrest
Mary Phelps was permanently maimed when a crew removed a hatch aboard the City of Panama. When the vessel reached Port Townsend, U.S. Marshal Hopkins seized it—prompting citizens to raise a $100,000 bond.
- The New Life of the Black Diamond
A Snohomish captain purchases a small steamer to ply the rivers of the Sound, reviving a vessel from his past.
- A Convent Escape and a Steamer Waiting: The Elopement That Ended in Port Townsend
When her parents opposed the match on religious grounds, Mary Emma Kealy was cloistered in a convent. She escaped in a carriage, reached a waiting steamer, and married Ward Debeck in Port Townsend.
- The Hard Luck of the Northern Mines
When the Snohomish River ran too shallow for navigation, hopeful miners found themselves stranded, forced to trade their picks for cobbler's benches.
- A Ghastly Industrial Tragedy at Westport
A sawmill accident on the lower Columbia claims the life of a British immigrant.
- The Funeral Boat on the Black River
A funeral party's journey home from Renton to Seattle is upended when their steamer breaks down, forcing a mud-caked, cross-country trek by wagon.
- The Riverboat Collision: A Seattle Near-Tragedy
A steamship crushes a local canoeist in Seattle's harbor, yet the collision ends with a quiet, miraculous survival.
- The Smallpox Scare on the Seattle Waterfront
When a stranger fell ill at his Seattle lodgings, he didn't wait for quarantine—he boarded a steamer for Portland, leaving the city in a state of nervous apprehension.
- The Confidence Men of the Steamer Route
A trio of swindlers fleeing Seattle justice find their match in a wary traveler on the Puget Sound steamship line.
Also about this, in other words
- The Steam Laundry That Would Save Your Clothes (And Your Wallet)
In May 1877, Seattle businessman L.D. Frank announced a bold new venture: a steam-powered laundry on Commercial Street that promised to clean clothes faster and cheaper than the traditional Chinese method—while explicitly excluding Chinese workers.