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 | 4 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 3 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1863 | 2 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 12 |
| 1876 | 52 |
| 1877 | 45 |
| 1878 | 29 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 6 |
| 1882 | 10 |
| 1883 | 44 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 45 |
| 1886 | 17 |
| 1887 | 29 |
| 1888 | 23 |
| 1889 | 74 |
| 1890 | 13 |
| 1891 | 59 |
| 1892 | 117 |
| 1893 | 98 |
| 1894 | 160 |
| 1895 | 179 |
| 1897 | 7 |
| 1898 | 18 |
| 1899 | 32 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 3 |
| 1903 | 52 |
| 1904 | 44 |
| 1905 | 3 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 19 |
| 1909 | 55 |
| 1910 | 13 |
| 1911 | 8 |
| 1912 | 3 |
| 1914 | 16 |
| 1915 | 16 |
| 1916 | 27 |
| 1917 | 16 |
| 1922 | 2 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 3 |
| 1925 | 3 |
| 1928 | 2 |
| 1929 | 3 |
29 stories matching might
- The Man Who Was Hanged Twice
A condemned murderer facing execution in Colfax reveals his harrowing, accidental survival of a previous lynching by an angry mob.
- The Ghost Ship of Puget Sound
While a steamer crew vanished into the waves, Port Townsend customs officials sat in their offices waiting for 'official notification' before launching a rescue, fueling public outrage.
- The Unmarked Funeral of a 'Prodigal Daughter'
A sympathetic account of a funeral service held in a Seattle brothel for a woman who died suddenly in 'terrible' circumstances.
- The Struggle for Tacoma Avenue
When the city of Tacoma withheld payment from contractors Cadwell & Vesey, labor tensions boiled over into a stand-off, highlighting the recurring fight to ensure workers get paid for their toil.
- 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 Waterfront Fire That Nearly Leveled Seattle
A dangerous cargo of dynamite on the schooner Idaho risked total catastrophe after a kerosene fire broke out at the Ocean Dock.
- The Delegate Who Did Nothing
Washington Territory’s representative in Washington D.C. faced scathing criticism for a term defined by absolute political inertia.
- The Forgotten Women of the 1887 Labor Convention
A rare glimpse of women organizers taking the floor at an early Seattle-area political gathering, challenging the 'monopolists' of the Gilded Age.
- The Forgotten Wreck of the St. Stephen
For six weeks, the federal revenue cutter Wolcott sat idle while the public clamored for a search for survivors of a shipwreck off the Washington coast.
- The Hop Harvest: A Seasonal Tug-of-War
As hop growers in the Puyallup and White River valleys race to harvest before the rains, a debate stirs over the reliance on Indigenous and migrant labor versus the desire for white, school-aged workers.
- The Political Tightrope of Territorial Seattle
In a 1887 campaign speech, future Seattle Mayor T.J. Humes attempts to balance the demands of laborers, miners, and the controversial issue of women's suffrage.
- The Jailhouse Scare: Seattle's Dynamite Terror
After dynamite bombs were discovered near the city jail, the authorities tightened their grip, trapping prisoners in silence and fueling public anxiety over labor unrest.
- The Seattle Legal Crisis of 1887
When an error in the law's title threatened to invalidate every court order in the territory, the Seattle Bar Association gathered to decide if the wheels of justice had ground to a halt.
- The Last Man Left Behind
A lonely figure in Tacoma navigates a hostile city after a systemic campaign of expulsion drove his neighbors into exile.
- The Boomtown Blueprint: Seattle's 1887 Construction Frenzy
Before the Great Fire, Seattle was a city transformed by a sudden, massive wave of brick, sandstone, and ambition.
- The Tragedy of a Deserted Mother on the Seattle Waterfront
A young woman, abandoned by an abusive husband, finds herself destitute and desperate for passage back home to Portland.
- The Deadly Sidewalks of Old Seattle
A local minister’s tumble into a 'horrible pit' sparks public outrage over the city’s treacherous, poorly lit, and uneven walkways.
- Pioneering the High Desert: An Early Settlement Dispatch from Yakima
A lifelong resident of Washington Territory recounts the struggles of farming near the Yakima River, the rapid expansion of homesteads toward the mountain summits, and the indignity of being denied the right to vote in one's own home.
- Northern Pacific Piles Block Commencement Bay Landing
Business owners clash with the Northern Pacific Railroad over the blocking of a vital waterway, forcing a community to fight for their access to the harbor.
- The President Takes the Side of the Homesteader
In an unprecedented rebuke to a powerful railroad corporation, President Grover Cleveland defends a Washington Territory settler's right to his land.
- The Great 'Chautauqua' Debate
After weeks of indecision, a committee chooses Point Defiance for a massive cultural assembly site, highlighting the rapid civic growth and ambition of the Puget Sound region.
- The Unlucky Stable in the Middle of the Street
A railroad land agent inadvertently builds a brand-new, modern stable smack in the middle of a planned Tacoma thoroughfare.
- The Silent Cutters of Puget Sound
A standoff at the Custom House reveals that government revenue vessels sat idle while local sailors risked their lives in the waves.
- A Moonlight Party’s Muddy Misadventure
When a 'jolly party' of Seattle revelers chartered a steamer for a midnight trip to Chautauqua Beach, they learned a hard lesson about the Puget Sound tides—and the limitations of their captain.
- The Price of Admission: A 1887 Seattle Real Estate Crisis
When the city's housing shortage became so acute that a book dealer had to buy an entire printing business just to secure a roof over his head.