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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 62 |
| 1858 | 29 |
| 1859 | 52 |
| 1860 | 27 |
| 1861 | 101 |
| 1862 | 87 |
| 1863 | 69 |
| 1864 | 32 |
| 1865 | 11 |
| 1871 | 11 |
| 1872 | 140 |
| 1876 | 812 |
| 1877 | 678 |
| 1878 | 526 |
| 1879 | 64 |
| 1880 | 180 |
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 911 |
| 1884 | 499 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
| 1888 | 440 |
| 1889 | 1,324 |
| 1890 | 287 |
| 1891 | 1,115 |
| 1892 | 2,855 |
| 1893 | 2,829 |
| 1894 | 2,116 |
| 1895 | 1,830 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 62 |
| 1898 | 196 |
| 1899 | 446 |
| 1900 | 114 |
| 1902 | 34 |
| 1903 | 1,332 |
| 1904 | 1,126 |
| 1905 | 124 |
| 1907 | 53 |
| 1908 | 351 |
| 1909 | 1,545 |
| 1910 | 413 |
| 1911 | 160 |
| 1912 | 73 |
| 1914 | 261 |
| 1915 | 300 |
| 1916 | 545 |
| 1917 | 332 |
| 1918 | 45 |
| 1919 | 5 |
| 1920 | 1 |
| 1922 | 18 |
| 1923 | 185 |
| 1924 | 151 |
| 1925 | 64 |
| 1928 | 14 |
| 1929 | 19 |
440 stories
- The Struggle to Keep Seattle Clean in 1888
As Seattle prepared for a massive influx of tourists for a summer celebration, one citizen publicly shamed the city's leadership for allowing its streets to remain a cluttered, hazardous mess of construction debris.
- The Real Estate Boom at Salmon Bay
A speculative land development promises a suburban future in Seattle’s north side, betting on railroad connectivity.
- The Fourth of July That Wasn't: Seattle's Flooded Festival
As the city prepares for its biggest celebration in decades, a relentless Pacific Northwest downpour threatens to wash away the fun—and the crops.
- The Confidence Game of 1888
A victim of a brazen street robbery in Seattle describes how he was lured into a basement by a sophisticated crew of swindlers who posed as wealthy travelers.
- The Morning the Graphophone Spoke
A group of Seattle scientists and journalists gathered in 1888 to witness the wonders of Thomas Edison's new 'graphophone' recording device, marveling at its ability to capture and reproduce human speech.
- The Tramp-Jail Breakout on the Waterfront
A routine arrest for vagrancy at the Seattle railyards escalated into a chaotic chase, drawing a crowd of hundreds to witness the struggle.
- Five Cottages in 1888 Seattle Jackson-Rainier Lot Drawing
Developers used a high-stakes raffle system to offload residential plots in the city's rapidly expanding Rainier Valley.
- The Health Scares of Seattle’s Founders
A pioneer’s testimonial for a turn-of-the-century 'miracle' tonic reveals the desperation of health and mortality on the 1880s frontier.
- The Promised Suburb: Sales Pitch for Palatine Hill
A late 19th-century land developer lures Seattle workers to a ‘suburban’ frontier near Salmon Bay with promises of factories and affordable housing.
- The Unseen Labor of a Male Housekeeper
A rare 1888 account reveals a 'male housekeeper' performing the exhaustive, often back-breaking daily labor typically expected of women, in a time when such roles were strictly gender-segregated.
- Left in the Dark: Seattle's Electrical Failure
When the lights went out across the city, a local resident spent the night navigating by touch.
- The Dream of 'Wine Hill': A Victorian Real Estate Mirage
Developers in 1888 touted a booming Seattle suburb near Salmon Bay with a schoolhouse and factory jobs, long before the reality of the city's sprawl caught up.
- The Seattle Customs Sting
A doctor from the local Chinese community finds himself at the center of a tense arrest after undercover officers sniffed out smuggled opium on his person during a rail transit to Tacoma.
- The 'Tramp' and the Steamer Ticket
A traveler, left penniless on the docks of Tacoma, finds an unexpected reprieve through a local act of charity.
- The Rise of the Suburban Commute
Promotional real estate copy from 1888 reveals the birth of Seattle's northern suburbs, marketing small lots to working-class families tethered to new industrial rail lines.
- The Lonely Soul of the Yukon Territory
An 1888 lonely-hearts advertisement from a settler in the Washington Territory reveals the frontier's stark isolation and the desperate social engineering that built the Pacific Northwest.
- The Real Estate Boom of Salmon Bay
Promotional copy for a 1888 Seattle subdivision promise rapid riches, mirroring the city's perpetual hunger for land development.
- The Real Estate Boom of the 1880s
Promotional copy for a new suburban development near Salmon Bay promised cheap, accessible housing for the city's rapidly growing workforce.
- Seattle Lot Listings Pitch Prime Business Corners in 1888
A classic advertisement from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reveals the city’s early land-grabbing fervor, offering prime downtown lots and suburban tracts for a fraction of today's prices.
- The Dream of a Working-Class Suburb at Palatine Hill
Promoters marketed the new Palatine Hill addition near Salmon Bay as the ideal, affordable commuter retreat for the city's growing workforce of laborers and mechanics.
- The Tragedy at the Bryant Place: A Life Cut Short in Whitman County
In November 1888, William McCloud’s death by suicide near Pullman shocked neighbors and sparked a somber inquest, revealing the quiet despair behind the frontier's bustling growth.
- The Boomtown Delusion of Port Townsend
In the late 1880s, Port Townsend boosters scrambled to convince the world that their city was destined to be the 'Frisco' of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Tragic Passing of Little Johnnie Alden
A grief-stricken child follows his father to the grave, unable to survive the loss of his hero.
- The Great Horse Thief of Seattle: A Van Buren Mystery
A dramatic arrest at the Artisan Hotel reveals a tangled web of stolen property, false accusations, and theatrical intrigue involving Edward Howard and Cornelius Vanderbilt.
- The Industrial Boom of Salmon Bay
A major creosote plant, destined to be the largest of its kind in the nation, promises to reshape Seattle’s industrial landscape and bring hundreds of jobs to Salmon Bay.