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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1871 | 8 |
| 1872 | 110 |
| 1876 | 535 |
| 1877 | 378 |
| 1878 | 279 |
| 1879 | 15 |
| 1880 | 134 |
| 1882 | 98 |
| 1883 | 475 |
| 1884 | 283 |
| 1885 | 566 |
| 1886 | 353 |
| 1887 | 327 |
| 1888 | 314 |
| 1889 | 798 |
| 1890 | 11 |
| 1891 | 334 |
| 1892 | 1,285 |
| 1893 | 1,528 |
| 1894 | 1,190 |
| 1895 | 223 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 372 |
| 1900 | 6 |
| 1902 | 6 |
| 1903 | 115 |
| 1904 | 62 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1909 | 29 |
| 1910 | 7 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 5 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 22 |
| 1917 | 7 |
| 1923 | 9 |
| 1924 | 9 |
| 1925 | 2 |
98 stories
- The Soldier Who Missed: Why Seattle Is Rooting for a Court-Martialed Hero
Sergeant Mason’s attempt to assassinate the man who killed Garfield has turned him from a mutineer into a martyr, sparking petitions and subscriptions across the Pacific Northwest.
- The Mob That Stole Justice in Seattle
A federal judge delivers a blistering rebuke to the Seattle vigilantes who lynched three men in January 1882, declaring that the lawless 'Committee of Safety' is a threat greater than the criminals they executed.
- The Vigilantes' Ghost: Seattle's Dark Secret in Two Maple Trees
A poem published in the *Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer* reveals the city’s foundational myth: that its current 'peaceable' order was bought with the blood of six men hanged by a secret committee when the law failed to act.
- The Real Estate Gold Rush: How Seattle’s Early Boomers Made Millions on Dirt
A Sunday editorial in the Post-Intelligencer lays bare the staggering profits of land speculation in 1883, revealing how a few savvy investors turned hundreds of dollars into fortunes through sheer timing and location.
- The Shadow Over Seattle's Early Growth
A vitriolic 1881 congressional speech from Thomas H. Brents reveals the dark, exclusionary labor politics that defined the foundations of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Great Labor War: Seattle Council Erupts Over Chinese Workers
In a fiery session in April 1882, Seattle’s City Council nearly came to blows over whether public grading contracts should be reserved exclusively for white laborers.
- The End of Wooden Seattle
A historic property deal marks a turning point as Seattle trades its 'dilapidated, squatty, and dangerous' wooden storefronts for modern, multi-story brick architecture.
- The City Hall That Wasn't: Seattle's 1882 Fire Engine Obsession
When faced with a choice between a new municipal center and a state-of-the-art steam fire engine, Seattle citizens chose the engine—prioritizing immediate safety over civic expansion.
- The Man Who Wanted Only the Rich to Vote
At the University of Washington’s first commencement, a visiting judge delivered a fiery address arguing that municipal government is like a railroad company: those without property should have no say in its management.
- The Ashes of Affluence: How Seattle’s Burnt District Became a Goldmine
While the city mourns the destruction of its commercial heart, savvy investors are turning charred lots into fortunes, with property values tripling in just years.
- The Orphan’s Plea: A Poem That Moved Seattle to Tears on Decoration Day
As the city honored Civil War dead with solemn processions and speeches, a young girl’s grief over her father’s unmarked grave brought the Grand Marshal to tears.
- The Great Railway Land Scandal
A sweeping federal report reveals that major railroad corporations failed to complete thousands of miles of track despite receiving massive federal land grants.
- The Birth of Seattle's Business Power
Twenty-five of the city's most influential men gathered in 1882 to formalize the Chamber of Commerce, signaling a new era of civic muscle and territorial lobbying.
- Turning Stumps into a City: Seattle's Great Transformation
For a quarter-century, the residents of Seattle have been waging a slow, expensive war against the forest, clearing timber, leveling hills, and filling ravines to make way for a modern city.
- Tragedy on the Tracks at Spirit Wood
A broken axle on a work train leaves a trail of injured men and death on the Northern Pacific line.
- The Fire That Starved a City: How a Burning Lime Ship Stalled Seattle’s Building Boom
When the steamer *Yquina* exploded in flames at Pacific Dock, it didn't just destroy $35,000 worth of cargo—it left 600 mechanics without work and halted the construction of a growing metropolis.
- The 'Curse' of the Chinese: How Seattle's Elite Tried to Buy Their Way Out of Racism
In May 1882, a local editorial argued that property owners should refuse to rent or sell land to Chinese immigrants, claiming they were bad tenants and a financial drain on the city.
- The Ghost in the Slough
The body of an unidentified Chinese man was discovered near Pioneer in a disturbing scene, underscoring the climate of violence against immigrants in the region.
- The Sunday Saloon Scramble
A Seattle judge faces a conundrum from a frustrated Grand Jury: if a hotel or drug store is allowed to stay open on Sunday, exactly who gets to drink?
- The Unseen War for the Puget Sound Pantry
An 1882 look at how San Francisco's economic grip and 'unfriendly agencies' were stifling the potential of Washington Territory's fishing industry.
- A Ghastly Discovery at Marshall's Wharf
A missing sailor's body is pulled from the Seattle waterfront after a mysterious disappearance.
- The City's Private Water Pioneer
Before the city operated its own utility, one visionary resident sank a deep well on Ninth Street, betting his own fortune that he could out-pump the ground itself to supply a growing Seattle.
- The Great Mountain Trek for False Promises
Chasing the myth of high wages over the Snoqualmie Pass, one woodman discovers that even in the 1880s, 'labor shortages' were often just a cover for low-balling workers.
- The Pioneer Priest Who Cleared the Forest for a Church
In 1883, Father Frefontaine laid the cornerstone of a grand new cathedral in Seattle, reflecting on a journey that began with clearing dense timber by hand to serve a tiny, fractured congregation.
- Gunfire at the University of Washington
Tensions boil over into an armed confrontation between students and faculty, leaving a student wounded.