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 | 1 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 2 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1872 | 3 |
| 1876 | 56 |
| 1877 | 48 |
| 1878 | 41 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 7 |
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 46 |
| 1884 | 17 |
| 1885 | 46 |
| 1886 | 22 |
| 1887 | 28 |
| 1888 | 20 |
| 1889 | 68 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 61 |
| 1892 | 142 |
| 1893 | 124 |
| 1894 | 131 |
| 1895 | 143 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 5 |
| 1899 | 29 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 39 |
| 1904 | 45 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 13 |
| 1909 | 68 |
| 1910 | 10 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1914 | 15 |
| 1915 | 11 |
| 1916 | 17 |
| 1917 | 8 |
| 1923 | 5 |
| 1924 | 3 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 3 |
| 1929 | 2 |
56 stories matching door
- The Audacity of the Midnight Knife: A Burglary Attempt on Fourth Avenue
Two men risked everything to crack a store's back door in the dead of night, only to be thwarted by a vigilant clerk and the sound of sawing.
- The Unrelenting Doorbell: A Victorian Guide to Handling Salesmen
A satirical look at the day in the life of a beleaguered homemaker besieged by solicitors in 1870s Seattle.
- The Mother Who Chased Her Daughter Off the Train
A stern mother keeps a watchful eye on her daughter during a geological expedition’s outing, resulting in a comical train-platform confrontation.
- The Midnight Butcher of Seattle
A traveler stops for the night at a remote fisherman's hut, only to find himself terrorized by the sound of steel scraping against stone.
- The Tragedy at Fourth Street: A Suicide in the Empire Mill Owner's Room
In a grim scene on October 2, 1876, Henry Bendel was found dead in his Seattle boarding house room, having taken his own life with a revolver. The incident highlights the precarious nature of business ownership in the young frontier town.
- The Jail That Wasn't: A Tour of Port Madison’s Fortress
While Seattle’s own jails were often little more than wooden rooms with locks, the new facility on Port Madison was built like a fortress—iron spikes, windlass doors, and a view of the sound. But its warden faces a grim reality: no work for his prisoners.
- The Jailhouse Scuffle
A drunken brawl in a jail cell turns into a messy confrontation between a prisoner and the jailer.
- The Jailbreak at the Lava-Beds
A woman held in a Seattle lockup executes a daring escape, shedding her clothes and fleeing toward the wilderness after outsmarting her captor.
- The Unintended Comedy of a Seattle Home-Grown Play
A young Seattle playwright attempts a 'powerful' American drama, only to accidentally create a farcical scene involving nightshirts, chin-wiping, and a very confused father-in-law.
- The Man Who Slept in a Law Office Window
A destitute former resident of Chimacum is found crawling into a Seattle law office window, claiming he has nowhere else to go.
- The Siege at the St. Charles Hotel
A young woman recounts a harrowing night of confinement after a local man tricked her into his room, only to be met with a public denial and claims of 'blackmailing.'
- The Iron Cage of Fort Adams
A rare glimpse into the brutal security measures at a Washington Territory jail in the late 19th century.
- The Sheriff’s Hammer: A King County Farm Sold for Debt in the Heart of Seattle
In August 1875, the King County Sheriff stood on the courthouse steps to auction off a stranger's land to satisfy a judgment, turning the nascent town's civic center into a marketplace for foreclosures.
- The Day Seattle Stood Still: A Sunday of Sobriety and Silence
In November 1876, the city’s saloons closed their doors for a rare day of peace, while the newspaper editor noted with relief that there were no fights to report.
- The Raggedy Ball: Seattle’s First Great Social Scandal
In September 1876, the city’s elite donned rags for a masquerade at Yesler’s Hall, turning social climbing into a contest of who could look the most destitute.
- The 1876 Plea to Ditch the City for the Soil
Amidst economic stagnation in a young Seattle, a local editorial poem urges the 'idle clerks' and unemployed of the city to trade their pens for plows.
- The Stranger at the Clarendon Hotel
A young man arrives in Seattle, keeps to himself, and ends his life in a locked hotel room, leaving behind only a name that may not be his own.
- A Violent Saloon Brawl on the Waterfront
A simmering business dispute over fifty dollars turns into a brutal ambush with a club in a Seattle saloon.
- The Great Egg Exodus: Why One Seattle Boarding House Keeper is Trading City Squalor for Fidalgo Island Farming
In a move that defies the city's booming real estate speculation, Mrs. Johnson abandons her Commercial Street boarding house to launch a poultry empire on Fidalgo Island, proving that sometimes the best investment is a flock of chickens.
- The Circus Comes to Town: Montgomery’s Queen’s New Brings the 'Wonderful Kenebels' to Seattle
In October 1876, the largest and most brilliant circus company in the West descended upon Seattle, offering a night of acrobatics, animal acts, and high-flying daredevils for just one dollar.
- The Con Man and the Widow
A crafty imposter poses as a weary veteran to swindle a charitable widow out of her supplies.
- Seattle's Grand New Courthouse Plans Unveiled
Architect Isaac Palmer presents a bold, brick-and-mortar vision for the corner of Third and Jefferson, signaling the city's aspirations for civic permanence.
- A Journey to the Falls: 1880s Summer Excursion
A spirited account of a travel party’s trek from Snohomish to Snoqualmie Falls by boat, including dances, camping mishaps, and encounters with local settlers.
- The Day Seattle’s Firefighters Forgot the Engine
A narrow escape on Mill Street in 1876 reveals how quickly a small fire could consume the wooden city—and how unprepared the new volunteer company was.
- The Industrial Peril of Early Seattle
A newly established hospital opens its doors on Commercial Street to treat the rising toll of injuries from the region's expanding sawmills, coal mines, and logging camps.