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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 36 |
| 1877 | 40 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 5 |
| 1882 | 6 |
| 1883 | 42 |
| 1884 | 15 |
| 1885 | 21 |
| 1886 | 15 |
| 1887 | 14 |
| 1888 | 12 |
| 1889 | 41 |
| 1890 | 7 |
| 1891 | 41 |
| 1892 | 70 |
| 1893 | 54 |
| 1894 | 44 |
| 1895 | 60 |
| 1897 | 12 |
| 1898 | 24 |
| 1899 | 13 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 42 |
| 1904 | 24 |
| 1905 | 12 |
| 1907 | 5 |
| 1908 | 29 |
| 1909 | 37 |
| 1910 | 14 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 9 |
| 1915 | 19 |
| 1916 | 36 |
| 1917 | 18 |
| 1918 | 4 |
| 1922 | 2 |
| 1923 | 10 |
| 1924 | 6 |
| 1925 | 5 |
| 1928 | 1 |
36 stories matching season
- The Haunted Theater of Seattle: A Superstition of 1876
A group of locals at the Occidental Hotel exchange tales of theater lore, specifically the peculiar story of a spider that allegedly predicted the success of a New York stage house for ten consecutive seasons.
- The Boom Town of La Conner
A report from 1878 highlights the explosive agricultural potential and rapid development of the Skagit Valley's 'thrifty little town.'
- The Celebrity Circuit of 1876
Before podcasts and TED Talks, the American lecture circuit was the ultimate stage for the era’s 'influencers'—and the money was surprisingly high.
- The Wettest Spring in Memory: Walla Walla’s Deluge and the Rainbow That Spanned Mountains
While Seattle residents fret over rain cisterns, neighbors to the east endure a historic deluge that has delayed planting and produced a rare midnight rainbow stretching from the Cascades to the Columbia.
- The Seasonal Slump Hits Seattle’s Commerce
While lumber and coal exports have dipped, city leadership maintains a hopeful stance on the resilience of the local economy.
- The Magic of Christmas in Pioneer Seattle
A glimpse into 1876 holiday traditions, from elaborate 'Fairy Land' church displays to the grab-box giveaways that defined the season for the city's children.
- Seattle’s Surprisingly Mild Winter of 1876
While outsiders imagined the Pacific Northwest as a frozen, inhospitable tundra, locals were enjoying a 'genial' December filled with blooming garden flowers.
- The 'Virtuous Spasm' of 1876: Seattle’s Early Critique of Political Greed
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch captures the simmering public outrage over a government scandal in Washington Territory, drawing parallels between national corruption and the mismanagement of local university land grants.
- The Industrial Heart of Pioneer Seattle
A look at the bustling shops and specialized trades fueling the growth of the town, from ironworks to the newly opened brick storefronts on Front Street.
- The $1,000 Payroll: How Seattle’s Hop Boom Put Cash in Local Hands
A local farmer’s record-breaking harvest didn’t just fill warehouses—it injected a thousand dollars into the city’s economy by hiring Indigenous laborers who spent their wages right here.
- An Arduous Journey to the Ranch
A difficult canoe trip up the Snohomish River turns into an overland slog through downed timber.
- Before the Next High Tide
An 1878 editorial warns that hauling gravel and pulling drift logs off the Point Hudson spit has already helped flood Port Townsend twice—and calls for an ordinance before the winter storms return.
- The Unlikely Paradise of the Sagebrush
While cattle ranchers once guarded their grazing ranges, a 1878 report from the Yakima Valley reveals the early, optimistic push to transform 'useless' desert land into a thriving agricultural hub.
- The 'Hulless' Oat Craze of 1876
A Vermont promoter and a Duwamish River farmer pitch a new 'agricultural wonder' to the settlers of Washington Territory.
- The Coal Rush: How 1876 Industry Linked Seattle and Tacoma
A historic editorial argues that the expansion of Northern Pacific Railroad coal lines from Puyallup will drive mutual prosperity for Seattle and its southern neighbor.
- Surveyors Blocked by Federal Red Tape
A new federal funding measure renders land surveying in Western Washington practically impossible, stalling pioneer settlement expansion.
- The Workingman's Protest Against Seattle's 'Class Tax'
An early Seattle citizen takes to the press to challenge a municipal licensing ordinance, arguing it unfairly shifts the tax burden from the wealthy onto the backs of laborers.
- The Potato Famine That Never Left the Sound
A century and a half ago, Seattle farmers lamented the mysterious collapse of the Puget Sound potato trade, marking the end of a boom that once promised regional prosperity.
- The Justice, the Teen Bride, and the Proof of Adulthood
When a young couple arrived in 1876 Seattle seeking to re-validate their wedding, a skeptical judge found himself out-argued by the bride’s most persuasive piece of evidence.
- The Struggle to Save the Harbor
Engineers and locals debate the best way to keep Seattle's waterfront from choking on silt and debris in 1876.
- The Pilot Who Dropped Dead at the Helm
A seasoned navigator suffers a fatal stroke while guiding a British ship through the Golden Gate, only for the crew to be extorted by a tugboat captain who demands an 'exorbitant' fee to save them.
- The Promised Land of Puget Sound
An 1876 editorial from Seattle’s 'Intelligencer' pitches the Pacific Northwest as a hardship-free utopia for those fleeing the failures of the East.
- Rain Turns Early Seattle's Front Street to Mud
When heavy rains turned downtown thoroughfares into impassable quagmires, residents demanded better engineering than the temporary, 'penny-wise' patch jobs of the 1870s.
- The Struggle to Clear the Skagit River
Loggers and settlers face a massive, shifting timber jam on the Skagit River, with locals debating the impact of land ownership on the future of the valley.
- The Paper War of Snohomish: How One Man’s Canoe Trip Launched a Newspaper
In January 1876, editor Eldridge Morse navigated the Snohomish River by canoe to secure his printing press, launching the *Northern Star* amidst fierce competition from rival publishers.