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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 |
1,324 stories
- The Great Fire of 1889: Resilience in the Ashes
A traveler recounts their journey across the continent to find a city 'wiped out' but miraculously still standing, thriving in tents and determined to rebuild.
- 1889 Spokane Falls Fire Destroys Nearly Forty Blocks
A catastrophic fire destroys thirty blocks of Spokane's business district, echoing the recent destruction in Seattle.
- The City in Ashes
After a devastating fire leaves Ellensburgh in ruins, North Yakima reflects on the fragile nature of boomtown prosperity.
- Seattle Rebuilds After the 1889 Great Fire
A catastrophic blaze levels the city’s business district, triggering a massive relief effort and ushering in new urban planning.
- Seattle's 1889 Fire Destroys Entire Business District
A devastating blaze wipes out the city's entire business district.
- The Great Seattle Fire
Shelton residents receive news of a massive inferno consuming the business district of Seattle, causing millions in damage.
- The Dynamite Fiend of Oilman: A Lynch Mob’s Tragic Mistake
When a violent feud in King County’s coal fields ended in a massacre, the community turned to vigilante justice. But when they hanged the wrong man, the real killer walked free.
- The Judge’s Double Life: Seduction, Abortion, and the Cover-Up That Shook Tacoma
In 1889, a young canvasser named Sadie Brantner took the stand to accuse Pierce County Probate Judge James Wickersham of luring her into a trap in Seattle, forcing an illegal abortion, and paying her off to silence. The trial revealed a web of deceit involving fake names, land fraud, and medical conspiracies.
- The Judge Who Was Both Defendant and Accused
In a stunning legal double-header, Judge Wickersham is convicted of seduction in one court, then immediately indicted for perjury by the federal grand jury in the very same day.
- The Forgotten Family on the Garret Floor
An impoverished immigrant family, suffering from diphtheria in a cramped Seattle attic, highlights the desperate housing conditions facing newcomers in 1889.
- The Detective’s Trap: A High-Stakes Kidnapping and Coercion Plot in 1889 Seattle
A young woman, under legal guardianship after a landmark trial, is lured into a carriage by a female imposter and delivered into the hands of a desperate man wielding a pistol.
- The Mystery of the Mast
Two Seattle brothers discover a man adrift off Blakely Rocks with a bullet in his forehead, sparking a murder investigation in a quiet maritime town.
- The Fiendish 'Joke' at the Seattle Waterfront
A saloon keeper is arrested for a brutal assault on an intoxicated man, having stuffed a burning newspaper into the man's throat as a spectacle for his patrons.
- The Midnight Raid on the Tenderloin
Seattle Police Chief Butterfield leads a coordinated strike on the city's red-light district, resulting in mass arrests and a violent encounter.
- Seattle Council Accused in 1889 Tide Land Dispute
Tensions boil over at the Washington State Constitutional Convention as delegates clash over who owns the city’s waterfront—the people or the speculators.
- The Great Statehood Jubilee: Washington Takes Its Seat at the Table
As President Cleveland signs the admission bill on Lincoln’s birthday, Seattle celebrates the end of the territorial era and the dawn of sovereign self-governance.
- The Day Washington Was Born: A City Holds Its Breath
As the nation celebrates statehood, Seattle gathers in a packed hall to hear speeches on liberty, land fraud, and the future of the 'Queen City.'
- The Day the Chinamen Came Back
After a violent expulsion and rumors of hanging in Tekoa, Chinese laborers return under federal guard to resume work, turning a local tragedy into a grim advertisement for the town.
- The Boom That Built Bellingham: How Four Towns Merged Into One City
In the spring of 1904, the bustling communities of Sehome, Whatcom, Fairhaven, and Bellingham were rapidly converging. With housing prices soaring and carpenters working day and night, this historic merger created the city we know today.
- The Test Case for Chinese Exclusion
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear the Chae Chan Ping case, the lives and property rights of Chinese laborers in Washington hang in the balance.
- After the Great Fire: A City Rebuilds from Ashes
Following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, city authorities clash with circus owners and residents over the 'tinderbox' conditions that allowed the blaze to consume the downtown business district.
- The Great Seattle Fire of 1889: Organizing Relief Amidst Chaos
Following the cataclysmic fire that leveled downtown, city officials and volunteer committees scrambled to house the displaced and maintain order in the charred remains of the district.
- Vancouver’s Heart of Flame
A catastrophic fire destroys the business district of Vancouver, Washington, leaving small shopkeepers destitute and the city in shock.
- The Great Seattle Fire Erased Our Roots
An early record of Seattle’s vanished architecture and the displacement of its first churches following the devastating 1889 fire.
- Drafting the Constitution
As the constitutional convention meets in Olympia, delegates navigate high-stakes debates over statehood, judicial reform, and the volatile question of woman suffrage.