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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 799 |
| 1884 | 455 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
799 stories
- Fatal Steamship Boiler Explosion Rocks Seattle Waterfront
A boiler aboard the steamer J. S. Kobinson exploded with 'frightful force' at the foot of Yesler Way, resulting in fatalities and massive property damage.
- Chinatown Destroyed by Suspicious Blaze in Tacoma
Twenty-five buildings consumed in a massive fire; arson suspected in the downtown quarter.
- Chief Moses Agrees to Relocate
A landmark settlement in Washington Territory promises to open two million acres to settlement.
- Seattle’s Late-Night Policing of Indigenous Women
A 1873 ordinance allowed police to criminalize Indigenous women as 'vagrants' for simply being out after dark.
- The Great Seattle Land Office Fire
A devastating blaze sweeps through downtown, destroying irreplaceable public records and a local church.
- Fire Ravages Olympia’s Government Buildings
The Surveyor General’s office, the Land Office, and a historic church are destroyed in a devastating overnight blaze.
- The Blueprint for a Growing City
Newly proposed amendments to the Seattle city charter reveal the administrative scaffolding behind the city's 1883 expansion, including fire department mandates and tax enforcement.
- Seattle Was Selling Itself by the Lot
A correspondent finds a city crowded with renters, hotels turning travelers away, and speculative prices for even a Fifth Street mud puddle.
- Border Smuggling Crisis
Revenue officers report nearly one hundred Chinese laborers crossing the northern frontier by boat as current enforcement resources prove inadequate.
- They Killed Poor Mac
A widow steps off the stage at Pomeroy's St. George Hotel with news of her husband's death in Dayton — and the town's sympathy stops short of the dead man.
- Fire Threatens Seattle’s Courthouse
A late-night blaze at Slorah's malt house on Mill Street forced the evacuation of the jail and nearly consumed the county’s official records.
- Seattle Celebrates the New Territorial Suffrage Law
A boisterous and hopeful crowd gathers at the Yesler Hall to toast the recent legislative victory granting women the right to vote in Washington Territory.
- Mutiny at Port Townsend
A newly arrived crew refuses duty and fights for their freedom aboard a bark in the harbor.
- Boiler Explosion Wrecks Steamer Josephine Near Port Susan
A local steamer bound for the Skagit River suffers a boiler explosion near Fort Susan, leaving several dead and the vessel a total wreck.
- Explosion on the Skagit River
A boilers explosion on a passenger steamer leaves eight dead and others wounded while commuters were at dinner.
- Telegraph Operators Walk Out Nationwide in 1883
Across the nation and deep into the Pacific Northwest, 22,000 workers have walked off the job in a massive clash against the Western Union monopoly.
- The Great Seattle Streetcar Race
Two competing groups of prominent businessmen rush to City Council, proposing a sprawling network of cable and horse-drawn streetcars to reshape the city's growth.
- Washington Territory Grants Women the Vote
After passing the House previously, the suffrage bill clears the Council, marking a historic victory for equal representation.
- Washington Celebrates Equal Suffrage
Legislators, judges, and citizens gather in Olympia to hail the territory's historic move to enfranchise women.
- Vigilante Justice in the Big Bend
After a rancher vanishes for two months, a local investigation uncovers a brutal murder and leads to a swift, extrajudicial execution.
- The Brutal Logic of Dispossession
Governor Newell’s biennial message advocates for the total dismantling of reservations in Washington Territory to prioritize white settlers' agricultural ambitions.
- U.S. Commissioner Orders Expulsion of Eleven Chinese Residents
Following a trial in Port Townsend, eleven individuals were ordered removed from American soil for alleged violations of the Chinese Restriction Act.
- Seattle's New Railroad Depot to Anchor Future Prosperity
City leaders anticipate that the construction of a grand new depot at the foot of Second Street will permanently shift the city's wholesale trade district.
- The Tragic End of the Moncks
A young couple is found dead in a Seattle hotel room, a desperate final act following the husband's unemployment.
- Inside the Tulalip Indian School
A rare 1883 report on the daily operations, hardships, and boarding school labor practices at the Tulalip reservation.