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 |
5,298 stories
- The Captain, the Stowaway, and the Revolver
A confrontation on a Puget Sound steamer between a captain and an armed traveler reveals the wild and precarious nature of local maritime transport in 1886.
- The Miner’s Dignity: When Newcastle Stood Against the Clock
A tense standoff at the Newcastle coal mines reveals the human cost of industrial efficiency and a worker's refusal to be 'watched like a slave.'
- A Steamboat Standoff on the Puget Sound
When a captain accused a passenger of skipping town on a fare, two witnesses stepped forward to detail a tense armed confrontation aboard the steamer 'Otter.'
- The Runaway Street Car on Battery Street
When the brakes failed on a steep Seattle incline, passengers faced a terrifying ride as their horse-drawn car hurtled down the tracks toward the waterfront.
- The Boy Who Tried to Buy His Mother’s Freedom
When his mother was jailed for a minor offense, a seven-year-old Seattle boy arrived at the police station with two dollars and a heart-wrenching plea to take her place in the cell.
- The Piano Player and the Martial Law Mob
When the U.S. Army imposed martial law in 1886 Seattle to restore order amid anti-Chinese riots, one piano player decided to publicly heckle the 'murderers' in uniform.
- The Price of Vigilantism Under Martial Law
While Seattle remained under military control during the 1886 anti-Chinese riots, a local soldier faced court-martial for an unauthorized raid on a business, highlighting the rigid enforcement of order in a city on the edge.
- The Tragic End of a Hotelier
A well-known Seattle ship captain and hotel proprietor dies after a fatal overdose of morphine intended to ease his suffering.
- Hardship and Deception at the Cascade Tunnel
Laborers arriving at the Northern Pacific site find empty promises, cold conditions, and a 'regular gouging' by company management.
- The Price of White Labor in the Sound's Salmon Canneries
Prominent cannery man George T. Myers threatens to abandon Puget Sound if local sentiment forces him to abandon Chinese labor for white workers.
- The 'Wild Man' of the Snoqualmie Valley
For weeks, settlers between Seattle and Snoqualmie reported sightings of a mysterious, hair-covered creature in the woods, only for the enigma to be solved when a starving immigrant was discovered.
- The Secret Plot to Liquidate Seattle’s Elite
A deathbed confession unearths a forgotten 1886 conspiracy by radical socialists to assassinate prominent Seattle figures, including the city's founder, Arthur A. Denny.
- The Tragedy of a Boy on Mercer Island
A young runaway’s desperate flight leads to a dramatic intervention by the county sheriff.
- The Railway Hotel Trap
A scathing critique of a Northern Pacific Railroad ticket that forced passengers to stay at a specific Tacoma hotel to validate their travel.
- The Deadly Loaf of Bread
A betrayal between business partners takes a dark turn in Semiahmoo when a loaf of bread becomes a vessel for strychnine.
- The Child on the Train
A conductor discovers a feverish little girl wandering a train alone with only her doll for comfort.
- The Blundering Firefighters of Pioneer Square
A satirical look at a day when a local livery stable fire turned into a slapstick comedy of errors for Seattle's volunteer hook and ladder company.
- The Dogfish Gold Rush on San Juan Island
Before tourism, local entrepreneurs on San Juan Island sought their fortune in the 'stinking' but profitable trade of extracting oil from thousands of dogfish caught in the sound.
- The Failed Arson Plot at the Denny Block
A tenant discovers a trail of kerosene-soaked fabric and a trap door beneath his shop, thwarting an attempt to burn down a Seattle business district.
- The Republican Convention of King County
A raucous 1886 political gathering reveals a party divided by railroad influence, local prohibition, and the intense anti-Chinese sentiment of the era.
- The Mysterious Bomb at the Postoffice
A suspicious package resembling a bomb creates a localized stir at the Seattle post office.
- The Opium Smuggler of Second Street
A diligent customs officer tracks a young man and his illicit cargo to a local rooming house.
- The Price of a Mill Hand's Life
An anonymous laborer exposes the exploitative wage practices of the Puget Mill Company, detailing how the firm undercuts competitors by replacing white workers with Chinese laborers at subsistence wages.
- The Secret Railway Building Under Seattle’s Streets
While the city slept, a mysterious construction crew pushed a new railway line through the downtown core, dodging private lots and baffling local observers.
- The Blurred Map of Seattle's Early Real Estate Boom
A local property surveyor exposes a deceptive mapping practice meant to obscure the true boundaries of land parcels during a heated period of development.