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 | 1 |
| 1858 | 4 |
| 1859 | 6 |
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1862 | 6 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 5 |
| 1876 | 41 |
| 1877 | 43 |
| 1878 | 20 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 6 |
| 1882 | 9 |
| 1883 | 60 |
| 1884 | 28 |
| 1885 | 41 |
| 1886 | 23 |
| 1887 | 24 |
| 1888 | 33 |
| 1889 | 99 |
| 1890 | 15 |
| 1891 | 69 |
| 1892 | 116 |
| 1893 | 129 |
| 1894 | 114 |
| 1895 | 158 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 7 |
| 1899 | 44 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 65 |
| 1904 | 49 |
| 1905 | 5 |
| 1907 | 4 |
| 1908 | 24 |
| 1909 | 86 |
| 1910 | 25 |
| 1911 | 9 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 16 |
| 1915 | 17 |
| 1916 | 22 |
| 1917 | 20 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 9 |
| 1924 | 10 |
| 1925 | 6 |
| 1929 | 1 |
24 stories matching prepar
- 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 Unintended Thief of Front Street
A disgraced attorney faces justice in Seattle for misappropriating client funds, pleading that his professional collapse was a desperate bid to survive.
- The Crusade Against Seattle Saloons
A visiting revivalist prepares to lead a campaign of song and prayer against the city’s drinking establishments.
- The Battle for the Council Floor
A legislative standoff in Olympia over petty offices and party control highlights the raw political maneuvering of the late Washington Territory era.
- The Ghostly Burglar of Main and 12th
A Seattle household tried everything to stop a persistent intruder—from chair barricades to tin-pan alarms—but the culprit bypassed every obstacle, leaving the family baffled.
- The Tragic End of Peter Legray
A quiet life on the Seattle waterfront ended in a lonely, tide-swept death, highlighting the stark invisibility of the city's vulnerable in 1887.
- The Great Migration of Seattle’s Buildings
A peculiar phenomenon hits Pacific Avenue as wooden structures vacate their lots to make way for the city's new brick ambitions.
- The City with Two Police Chiefs
While a legal battle over the city charter rages in court, Seattle finds itself in the absurd position of having two men claiming to lead the police force at once.
- The Church and the Union: A Moral Tug-of-War in 1887
When the Knights of Labor came under fire from the Vatican, their leader had to scramble to prove that their fight for workers wasn't a precursor to anarchy.
- The Street Contractor’s Gamble
When the city of Tacoma failed to pay up on street improvements, a contractor was left holding the bag—and a pocket full of worthless paper.
- The Struggle for Tacoma’s 'Salvation'
A committee of business owners meets to address the proposal of re-introducing Chinese workers to a city that prided itself on their total expulsion.
- The Mate Who Died Without a Name
A steamer mate is thrown overboard at Utsalady and lost. When reporters ask around the waterfront, everyone knew him—but no one could recall his name.
- Seattle’s Early Infrastructure Struggles: A City Thirsty for Reliability
A pipe burst in the heart of Seattle left residents without water, forcing them to queue at public wells as the growing city learned the hard way about the vulnerabilities of its infrastructure.
- 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 Pioneer Silo Movement in Puyallup
A local farmer fights to modernize dairy production in the Puyallup Valley, navigating wet soil, crop selection, and the skepticism of neighboring dairymen.
- The Iron Road and the Sea
As the federal government prepares to implement the Interstate Commerce Act, Seattle business leaders argue the city is immune to the looming rise in rail freight rates.
- The Siege of Seattle: A City Born in Fire
Recalling the 1856 Indian War attack on Seattle, when a handful of settlers held their ground behind a blockhouse against a barrage of fire and shell.
- The Burglary in the Cathedral
A legal loophole in Washington Territory prevents a man accused of living inside a church from being charged with burglary, sparking a public outcry against the prosecutor.
- The Pile-Driver Politics of Tacoma’s Waterfront
When the Tacoma Land Company locked the city’s citizens away from the bay, one local activist took a stand with a pile driver, a small cabin, and a vision for an open waterfront.
- The Brotherly Brawl That Stopped the Boat
When two brothers’ disagreement over work on the Sound led to a public fight and a lawsuit, a clever attorney used the distraction of a boat departure to force a reconciliation.
- 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 Disappearing Contractor of Madison Street
A Seattle infrastructure project hits a snag when the lead contractor vanishes with thousands of dollars in city funds, leaving his bondsmen to face the bill.
- The Boom and Bust of Washington Hops
An 1887 agricultural columnist dissects the volatile global hop market, warning Pacific Northwest farmers against reckless expansion while grappling with the realities of 'hired hand' labor versus high-yield ambitions.
- The Sea Captain’s Return to Seattle
After surviving a shipwreck, an opium smuggling trial, and years of exile, a seasoned mariner decides he is done running and returns to Seattle to settle his debts.