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| 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 |
526 stories
- The Price of Early Seattle Expansion: A Sheriff’s Sale of the Talbot Coal Company
In 1878, as Seattle struggled to build its industrial backbone, the courts were already dismantling the assets of struggling developers, illustrating the precariousness of the city’s early capital-intensive boom.
- The State's Duty to Your Dinner Plate
An 1878 editorial debate in the Seattle press over a 'Colusa Sun' piece satirizes the radical notion that government should provide housing and ensure personal satisfaction for citizens.
- The Pioneer Struggle to Pave Commercial Street
Before it was the bustling core of Pioneer Square, Seattle’s Commercial Street was a rough-hewn stretch of dirt and mud in dire need of basic infrastructure.
- The Salt Water Summer of 1878
Before indoor plumbing and private beaches, Seattle's waterfront was the city's shared, chaotic, and joyous summer escape.
- 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.
- The Sheriff’s Auction Block in Territorial Seattle
A look at the brutal cycle of debt and displacement in 1878 Seattle, where land holdings were sold off on the courthouse steps to satisfy unpaid loans.
- The Exclusionist Policies of the American House
A Seattle boarding house advertises a 'No Chinese Employed' policy, reflecting the volatile labor and racial tensions of the 19th-century Pacific Northwest.
- Pioneering the Skagit River Frontier
As the formidable log jam on the Skagit River begins to break, early settlers recount the hardships of establishing permanent homes in the wild, mud-soaked territory of 1878.
- Life and Labor at the Carbon Coal Mines
A look inside the 1878 mining boom in Wilkeson, where company-owned land and rugged infrastructure defined the lives of the workers.
- The Great Spelling Bee of 1873
Before high-speed internet and digital debates, Seattle’s social life centered on the grand Spelling Match, a community competition held at Yesler’s Hall.
- The Original Tech School of Seattle
A look back at the Puget Sound Business College, an institution that promised students practical training in the age of rapid telegraphy and trade expansion.
- The Boom Before the Boom: Forecasting Washington's Future
An 1878 report predicted that Washington Territory’s natural resources and rapid population growth would soon make it a Pacific Northwest power, even as early settlers braced for statehood.
- The Gold Rush at the Swinomish Flats
While miners chased gold in the mountains, early settlers on the Swinomish tide lands found that dyking and ditching the soil offered a far more reliable fortune.
- Life at the Edge of the Wilderness: The Nooksack Settlement of 1873
A rare window into the early days of agricultural pioneers, steam-powered dreams, and the quiet resilience of a solitary woman living on the edge of the Nooksack River.
- The Unwelcome Arrival at Marysville
As the Snohomish River valley faced economic stagnation, a new townsite at Marysville was pitched as a promise of fertile independence for fifty families.
- The Tide Marsh Farmer's Million-Dollar Pitch
A La Conner entrepreneur calls for local investment to stop the exodus of grain wealth, offering land to any miller willing to set up shop.
- The Mukilteo Real Estate Boom
Developers pitch the 'natural advantages' of Mukilteo as a prime hub for shipping, milling, and homesteading on the Sound.
- The Hypocrites of Commercial Street
A biting piece of social commentary from 1878 Seattle poetry attacks the town's pious moneylenders who exploit their neighbors while maintaining a veneer of religious devotion.
- A Penny Dreadful for the Pioneer
A Seattle editor reviews a piece of pulp fiction, warning that if the author keeps killing off the population at this rate, there will be nobody left to read the story.
- The 1878 Dream of Building Societies
A look at the early mutual loan movement, promising that the average working man could escape the cycle of high rent and finally own his home.
- A Heartbreaking Plea for a 'Stout' Boy
A desperate local advertisement seeks a home for an eight-year-old child in exchange for farm labor in the late 1870s.
- The Price of Print: A Pioneer Newspaper’s Inventory Liquidation
A rare glimpse into the mechanics of 1878 journalism as a Seattle printer liquidates his entire shop, signaling the volatile life of local presses.
- The Price of Panic: Losing the Farm to the Sheriff
After a grueling economic downturn, a King County family faces the auction block as court-ordered sales sweep Seattle.
- Sheriff's Auction: King County Land Sold to Settle a Debt
A 1878 legal notice reveals a grim snapshot of early King County land struggles, as a riverside homestead goes to auction to satisfy a debt.
- The Glass Master of Occidental Square
A traveling exhibition of delicate glass artistry offers a whimsical distraction to 1870s Seattleites.