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 | 62 |
| 1858 | 29 |
| 1859 | 52 |
| 1860 | 27 |
| 1861 | 101 |
| 1862 | 87 |
| 1863 | 69 |
| 1864 | 32 |
| 1865 | 11 |
| 1871 | 11 |
| 1872 | 140 |
| 1876 | 812 |
| 1877 | 678 |
| 1878 | 526 |
| 1879 | 64 |
| 1880 | 180 |
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 911 |
| 1884 | 499 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
| 1888 | 440 |
| 1889 | 1,324 |
| 1890 | 287 |
| 1891 | 1,115 |
| 1892 | 2,855 |
| 1893 | 2,829 |
| 1894 | 2,116 |
| 1895 | 1,830 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 62 |
| 1898 | 196 |
| 1899 | 446 |
| 1900 | 114 |
| 1902 | 34 |
| 1903 | 1,332 |
| 1904 | 1,126 |
| 1905 | 124 |
| 1907 | 53 |
| 1908 | 351 |
| 1909 | 1,545 |
| 1910 | 413 |
| 1911 | 160 |
| 1912 | 73 |
| 1914 | 261 |
| 1915 | 300 |
| 1916 | 545 |
| 1917 | 332 |
| 1918 | 45 |
| 1919 | 5 |
| 1920 | 1 |
| 1922 | 18 |
| 1923 | 185 |
| 1924 | 151 |
| 1925 | 64 |
| 1928 | 14 |
| 1929 | 19 |
678 stories
- The Next Pittsburg: Seattle’s Coal Rush
A new mine opens across the Cedar River, fueling hopes that the young city of Seattle will soon become a major center for iron and coal production.
- The Tragic End of a Traveling Grifter
A notorious card shark is declared insane by the courts after a life spent deceiving folks from British Columbia to Virginia City.
- The Snohomish Runaway
A husband’s search for his wife ends in a bitter surprise after she leaves him penniless at a hotel.
- The Strange Case of the County's Vanished Property
A legal battle over the former Collins claim reveals a messy history of county mismanagement, secret land deals, and invalid property sales.
- The School Budget Crisis of 1877
Seattle’s public schools faced a complete shutdown due to a $1,500 deficit, forcing local leaders to choose between debt, taxes, or cutting the school year short.
- The Futility of Policing Morality
An 1877 editorial from the Puget Sound region challenges the effectiveness of prohibitionists attempting to legislate temperance via 'paper petitions.'
- The Forged Signature and the Legal Loophole of Marriage
A husband accuses his wife of forgery for signing his name, only to have a judge dismiss the case based on the legal doctrine of coverture.
- The Perilous Crossing of the Sound
A young man attempted a midnight sailboat trip from Port Blakely to Seattle during a gale; now, only his empty boat remains.
- The Great Reclamation: Opening the Interior
How a 1877 federal law sought to transform the 'Great American Desert' of the Yakima plains into a productive landscape.
- The Jailhouse Audit: Seattle's 1877 Infrastructure Battle
Before the city's modern boom, King County commissioners were locked in a tense legal standoff over the construction costs of the local jail.
- The Case for 'Made in Seattle' Ships
An 1877 editorial argues that Seattle’s abundant timber and cheap labor should make it a maritime powerhouse rather than a consumer of imported vessels.
- The Great Cordwood Opportunity
In 1877, a local editor saw a path to economic prosperity by shipping the dense forests of the Puget Sound to a treeless San Francisco.
- The Road to Riches: Seattle’s $33,000 Gamble on the Snoqualmie Pass
In March 1877, local editors urged citizens to fund a toll road through the mountains, arguing that the vast grain fields east of the Cascades were Seattle's only true economic future.
- The Schoolhouse That Wasn't: Seattle’s Bureaucratic Battle Over Public Education
In 1877, a local dispute over the construction of a new school in Helltown reveals the early struggles of civic infrastructure and the tension between taxpayer demands and administrative delay.
- A Heartbreaking Reunion Aboard the Dakota
The final journey of a dying man and his devoted wife captures the cruel reality of terminal illness in the pioneer era.
- The Steamboat Duel: Annie Stewart vs. The Messenger
In a race for passengers and profit on Puget Sound, two steamers engaged in a high-speed chase that ended with the Annie Stewart arriving five minutes ahead of her rival.
- The Price of a Leg: How Snohomish Neighbors Funded a Stranger’s Recovery
In the spring of 1877, when a man named Samuel Smallman lost his limb, the community didn't just offer sympathy—they pooled their cash to buy him a state-of-the-art prosthetic from Philadelphia.
- The Mill That Could Have Been: A Snohomish Tragedy of Ambition and Illness
In June 1877, the Northern Star reported on the collapse of a massive new mill project at Port Ludlow, blaming the death of its owner, Arthur Phinney, for halting construction that promised to rival any in the territory.
- The Presbytery’s Verdict: A Minister’s Scandal and the Price of Repentance
In a trial that captivated Snohomish County, Reverend H.P. Dunning faced charges of domestic abuse and neglect. The court’s nuanced ruling offers a rare glimpse into the moral policing of 19th-century clergy.
- The Impending Conflict: Labor and Capital in Snohomish
An urgent editorial from 1876 calls for the wealthy to heed the growing unrest of laboring men before the struggle turns from strikes to bloodshed.
- The Great Snohomish County Fair of 1877
A town rally for local pride and agricultural ambition, as Snohomish citizens prepare to showcase the best of the valley’s soil and handiwork.
- The Tyranny of the Tracks
An editorial from 1877 warns that railroad monopolies are forcing settlers and laborers into ruin by prioritizing corporate debt and high freight rates over the survival of the community.
- The Clerk vs. The Judge: A Battle Over Legal Authority
When a clerk in the Third Judicial District overstepped his bounds, a Chief Justice used the case of James Steel to affirm that only a judge possesses the power to declare the law.
- Judge Lewis Seeks Revocation of Snohomish Liquor Licenses
After a grand jury report, Judge Lewis urged revoking liquor licenses from tavern owners operating brothels and corrupt establishments in Snohomish.
- Descent into the Newcastle Mines
A journalist’s 1877 journey into the deep coal veins of Newcastle reveals the grueling, subterranean life of the miners and the complex logistics of Washington's early industrial expansion.