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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 Boom That Broke the Bank: Seattle’s Real Estate Mania of 1909
As property values skyrocket and outside capitalists flood in, local dealers declare the market stronger than ever—ignoring the warning signs of a bubble.
- The City That Couldn't Build: A Letter from a Frustrated Investor
In February 1889, an anonymous writer lambasts Seattle’s Common Council for failing to establish street grades, arguing that this bureaucratic paralysis is the primary reason developers are withholding capital and leaving the city in a building slump.
- The Patent Medicine Hustle on Front Street
A Seattle reporter investigates the miraculous 'medical inhalations' of an advertising physician, uncovering a trail of dubious health claims and desperate patients.
- The Ghost Papers of the Frontier
A deep dive into the volatile, high-stakes, and often short-lived history of early Washington journalism—where printing presses were subsidized by political parties and fires frequently wiped out the record.
- The Ghost of the Underground Railroad in the Pacific Northwest
A peculiar rumor spreads through Seattle of a coordinated, clandestine effort to relocate thousands of Black Southerners to Washington and Montana.
- The Forgotten 'Thousand Isles' of the San Juans
An 1888 dispatch captures a fleeting moment when the San Juan Islands were poised to become the Pacific Coast’s premiere summer resort, complete with massive lime kilns and romantic orchards.
- The Great West Seattle Land Rush of 1889
Before the West Seattle Bridge, developers enticed buyers with dreams of a 'gigantic smelter' and a booming industrial future.
- The Renton Addition Gold Rush
Before the neighborhood existed, Seattle land speculators stoked a frenzy for 'prime' lots along Madison Street, capping sales to prevent a total buyout on the first day.
- The Real Estate Poet of West Seattle
In an era of aggressive land speculation, developers sold West Seattle not just as property, but as a vision of the Mediterranean transplanted to the Pacific Northwest.
- The People's Party Rallies at Columbia Street
In 1894, Seattle's populist coalition gathered to challenge the dominance of corporate interests and demand equal rights at the ballot box.
- The Gentrification of Early Seattle
A 1889 land prospectus uses the promise of a new streetcar line to drive up property values, listing an elite roster of buyers to signal progress—and profit.
- The Boomtown Myth of 1889
As Seattle entered the year of the Great Fire, the local press touted a narrative of unstoppable, 'solid' growth that masked the fragility of an exploding city.
- The City That Vanished: Seattle’s First Real Estate Bubble and the Ghosts of Terry’s Addition
A look back at January 1890, when Seattle’s land boom was in full swing, prices were soaring, and developers like George Dorffel were selling lots in new subdivisions to speculators eager for a quick profit.
- The City That Forgot Its Builders: Seattle’s Public Shaming of Its Own Founders
In a rare editorial outburst, the *Seattle Post-Intelligencer* defends the city's original developers against 'vulgar abuse' from local critics who demand new construction without honoring those who built the town.
- The Shadowy Land Rush on the Tide Flats
Speculators and land-hungry developers descend on Seattle’s tide flats amid rumors of a secret railroad terminal.
- The Unbuilt Boulevard That Should Have Been
In 1889, a Seattle editorial warned that the city's future prosperity depended on securing land for a scenic public drive before the city outgrew its potential.
- The Forgotten Fight for Proportional Representation
In 1891, a Walla Walla thinker proposed a radical 'preferential system' to break the grip of party bosses and end the buying and selling of votes in Washington.
- The Salmon War: A 19th-Century Plea for Equitable Fishing
A sea captain argues that restrictive fishing regulations are designed to benefit luxury fur traders at the expense of the working class’s food supply.
- The Shadow of the Fortress at Esquimalt
An 1889 editorial argues that the growing military presence across the border in British Columbia demands a rapid response from the U.S. government to fortify Puget Sound.
- After the Great Seattle Fire, a Plea for Order
As the city scraped away the ash in June 1889, residents were already debating how to rebuild a safer, more modern urban center.
- Seattle’s Million-Dollar Water Gamble
Facing a growing population and urgent infrastructure needs, city leaders propose a massive bond measure to build a municipal water system, aiming to secure control over the city's future.
- The Fight for a Union Depot: Seattle’s Transit Dreams in 1889
As the city grew, civic leaders argued that a unified train station was essential for prosperity, warning that fragmented, inefficient rail access would hold Seattle back.
- The 1891 Building Laws That Shaped Seattle
A deep dive into the rigid safety mandates—from fire-proof walls to mandatory fire escapes—that dictated the construction of Seattle’s early downtown.
- The Great King County Land Scandal
An anonymous critique exposes rampant corruption and reckless assessment in the early days of King County’s real estate boom.
- The Forgotten Women of the Lodging-Houses
A sympathetic, if patronizing, look into the harsh, itinerant lives of women surviving in the depths of Seattle’s 19th-century urban poverty.