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 | 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 |
1,324 stories
- The Railway Race for the Wheat Fields
A major expansion of the Oregon Improvement Company’s rail network aims to link Seattle directly to Eastern Washington’s wheat belt, setting the stage for a showdown between rival railroad titans.
- The Skokomish Jubilee
Hundreds of Indigenous people from across the region gather for a major tribal assembly, despite the perils of travel.
- The Transformation of the Potlatch
Indigenous communities around Skokomish evolve the ancient tradition of the potlatch into a Fourth of July celebration.
- The Fire Fiend Stalks Washington
After catastrophic blazes in Seattle, Vancouver, Ellensburg, and Spokane, the Mason County Journal sounds the alarm for Shelton to modernize its water system.
- Colville Agency Indigenous Displacement
Newspaper reports indicate that Indigenous people at the Colville Agency in Washington Territory are being actively forced off their ancestral lands by encroaching white settlers.
- The Tragic Lynching of 'Big Bob' on the Swinomish Reservation
Four men murdered a tribal healer, driven by the enduring power of traditional superstition against the encroachment of modern colonial law.
- The Great Housing Crunch of 1889
Following the Great Seattle Fire, a surge of new arrivals finds the city's housing capacity stretched to the breaking point.
- The Long Shadow of Martial Law
A lawsuit reaches the district court regarding the 1886 Seattle anti-Chinese riots and the suspension of civil rights.
- Fire and Rent
A judge rules against tenants whose homes burned down, sparking an uproar in the jury box.
- The Land Office Rules for Lowe
A landmark land dispute, long considered impossible to resolve, has finally been decided by the federal government.
- The Great Irrigation Ambition
Northern Pacific Railroad directors back a massive canal and reservoir system to transform the arid Yakima Valley for settlement.
- Embezzlement Charges Target Candidate for Supreme Bench
A political scandal erupts as accusations of financial impropriety in Arizona shadow a candidate's judicial run in Washington.
- Suffragists Sue Over Disenfranchisement
After Washington's territorial courts stripped women of the right to vote in 1887, three Walla Walla women took the fight to the courthouse.
- The Sudden Rise of West Seattle
How a group of San Francisco capitalists transformed a dense forest into a speculative boomtown overnight.
- The Seattle Water-Hose Rail War of 1888
When two rival railroads fought over a contested stretch of waterfront track, the dispute escalated from legal threats to a chaotic brawl involving barricades, hired detectives, and a fire hose.
- The Daredevil of Seattle: A Near-Fatal Balloon Plunge
Thousands watched from the waterfront as Professor Van Tassell's aerial exhibition went awry, nearly ending in disaster over the harbor.
- The Scholar Who Lost His Mind to Whisky
In a Tacoma courtroom, a judge delivers a scathing eulogy for the dignity of a man who was once 'a brother of General Manager Muir,' now reduced to disorderly conduct by alcohol.
- The Captain Who Caught a Monster: Seattle’s Own Sea Serpent Hoax
Captain Pat J. Boyton of Seattle claims to have captured a 63-foot sea serpent in the Pacific, sending a letter from his ship that has locals buzzing with wonder and skepticism.
- The Man Who Bought His Last Meal with Strychnine
A carpenter checks into a Seattle boarding house, complains of abdominal pain, and dies by suicide in Room 23—leaving behind a diary entry that reads like a ghost story.
- The Gilded Union: A Chorus Girl and a Chinese Actor Defy Convention in Seattle's Chinatown
In a scandalous departure from social norms, Jessie Kitchie and Ah Bock exchanged vows in the opium-scented apartments of Jackson Alley, marking a rare public union across racial lines in 1889.
- The Day Justice Went Mad: A Proprietor’s Threat and a Drunkard’s Triumph
In a Tacoma courtroom in January 1890, the owner of the Lomar House threatened to kill a man accused of drunkenness. The court watched, entertained, and ultimately acquitted the accused after witnesses proved he was sober.
- The Vanishing Gentleman: Tacoma’s Mystery of the Empty Trunk
A well-dressed stranger pays rent in advance, checks into a boarding house, and disappears without a trace—leaving behind only a heavy trunk marked 'Prof. F.L. Hedger.' Locals fear he hasn't just moved on; they suspect a gang of thugs is operating in the city.
- The Longshoremen’s Riot: How a Watch Theft Sparked a Street Brawl in Pioneer Square
When a dockworker was arrested for stealing a gold watch from a drunk patron, his fellow laborers turned the courtroom into a battleground, forcing the justice to flee and the city to confront its own violent underbelly.
- The Great Tacoma License Revolt: Mayor vs. The People Over Harry Morgan’s Saloon
In a dramatic showdown at City Hall, the Tacoma Common Council voted to revoke the liquor and theater license of Harry Morgan, sparking petitions from both sides and accusations of bribery involving the *Tacoma Daily Bulletin*. But did the city really win?
- The Gatekeeper's Gambit: Seattle Landlords Lock Out Buyers
In a bold move to manipulate the local real estate market, Miller & Co. have pulled all East Seattle property from sale, citing a rumored federal decision on the Navy Yard location.