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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 14 |
| 1858 | 3 |
| 1859 | 15 |
| 1860 | 5 |
| 1861 | 21 |
| 1862 | 7 |
| 1863 | 5 |
| 1864 | 4 |
| 1865 | 4 |
| 1872 | 26 |
| 1876 | 145 |
| 1877 | 133 |
| 1878 | 160 |
| 1879 | 12 |
| 1880 | 39 |
| 1882 | 14 |
| 1883 | 110 |
| 1884 | 87 |
| 1885 | 107 |
| 1886 | 73 |
| 1887 | 77 |
| 1888 | 48 |
| 1889 | 180 |
| 1890 | 56 |
| 1891 | 219 |
| 1892 | 488 |
| 1893 | 378 |
| 1894 | 374 |
| 1895 | 449 |
| 1897 | 21 |
| 1898 | 68 |
| 1899 | 34 |
| 1900 | 36 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 293 |
| 1904 | 133 |
| 1905 | 27 |
| 1907 | 11 |
| 1908 | 102 |
| 1909 | 253 |
| 1910 | 84 |
| 1911 | 6 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 54 |
| 1915 | 48 |
| 1916 | 122 |
| 1917 | 78 |
| 1918 | 11 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 3 |
| 1923 | 38 |
| 1924 | 34 |
| 1925 | 13 |
77 stories matching counti
- The Jury That Called Out King County’s Corruption
A scathing 1887 report from the Grand Jury exposes the mismanagement, dangerous roads, and broken record-keeping systems of pioneer-era Seattle.
- The Struggle for Access: Farmers Demand Roads to Seattle
Early Washington farmers protest the neglect of rural infrastructure, warning they will take their trade to Tacoma if the King County commission fails to connect them to the city.
- The Auditor's Ledger Scandal
After an investigation into King County's books, the county auditor is indicted for forgery following a chaotic attempt to clear the ledger before his term expired.
- The Unlucky Traveler of King County
A lonely worker injured on the job finds himself a pawn in a bureaucratic tug-of-war between the county and his employer.
- The Great Population Bluff of 1887
A scathing editorial exposes how local politicians inflated King County’s census data, revealing the long history of 'boosterism' in Seattle's growth.
- The Fight for the White River Bridge
A century before modern infrastructure debates, King County residents were struggling with the same basic problem: a river that split a community in two.
- Abandoned by the County: The Price of Survival for Injured Laborers
Two men, broken by the dangerous work of the local mills, were left destitute and homeless when the county authorities refused to bear the cost of their recovery.
- The Political Machine vs. Mr. Humes
A fiery struggle over county boundaries reveals a deep-seated battle between Seattle’s citizenry and the powerful railroad political machine.
- The Great Tax Assessment Mess of 1887
Seattle and King County property owners find their tax rolls hopelessly entangled in errors, leaving public officials to question if the entire assessment should be scrapped.
- The Great Seattle Property Map Scandal
A scathing editorial reveals that King County’s property assessments are so riddled with errors that the tax rolls are essentially worthless, leaving the local government in a state of administrative paralysis.
- The Bridge at the Commissioner's Back Door
A group of settlers in the White River Valley accuses a King County commissioner of misusing taxpayer money to build a bridge near his own property, ignoring the needs of the actual traveling public.
- The Treasury Scandal of 1887
A team of expert auditors discovers that King County’s former treasurer, George V. Hill, systematically pilfered thousands of dollars using creative accounting and 'lost' tax records.
- A Democratic Patronage Fight in King County
A letter signed 'Alki Montgomery' protests a court clerkship appointment, accusing party leaders of rewarding latecomers and ignoring loyal King County Democrats.
- The Paper Trail of Patronage
A bold act of civic favoritism in King County sees the Board of Commissioners award a lucrative printing contract to a higher bidder, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
- King County's Missing $61,000: Treasurer Accused of Embezzlement
A committee's report reveals that former County Treasurer George D. Hill is indebted to King County for over $61,000; the board orders legal action against him and his bondsmen.
- The Justice Who Made the Complainant Pay
When a man filed an assault charge in the local courts, a sharp-witted justice turned the tables on him—and sent him to the county boarding house.
- The Scandal of the County Treasury
After years of whispers regarding the administration of the former county treasurer, a grand jury finally returns a true bill of indictment for forgery.
- The Forgotten Paupers of King County
A backlog of 800 unburied individuals, kept in temporary graves due to a lack of city funds, sparks a call for municipal accountability.
- The Election of '86: How King County Voters Rejected Woman Suffrage
A landslide victory in the 1886 legislative race reveals a deeply divided electorate and the intense political maneuvering surrounding women's right to vote in Washington Territory.
- The Jailer's Secret Cache
When nine prisoners attempted a daring escape from the Pierce County Jail, they left behind a strange assortment of contraband that revealed their desperate ingenuity.
- The Great Tax Assessment Debacle of 1887
King County taxpayers find themselves in an uproar as a bungled property assessment, based on a worthless abstract, threatens the city’s financial stability.
- The Residency Trap: Spokane’s 1887 Council Election Scandal
A city charter dispute threatens to unseat a newly elected official over residency requirements following a major county seat move.
- The Invisible Safety Net of 1880s Seattle
When the boom of 1884 brought hundreds of desperate families to the Pacific Northwest with no resources, a group of Seattle women stepped in to build a child’s refuge where the county had failed.
- The Deadly Accident at the Little Sisters’ Hospital
Two young brothers play near the Seattle hospital, ending in a sudden and heart-breaking tragedy.
- The Swindled Sheep of Whatcom County
A malicious act of agricultural sabotage left 2,000 sheep dead, exposing the brutal desperation of early range life.