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 |
11,738 stories
- The Stand-off at Puyallup
Railroad graders on the Puyallup reservation refuse to leave, citing their status as citizen-landowners against federal military orders.
- The Disappearance of Miss Nellie Holgate
A young clerk vanishes during a rowing trip on Lake Washington, leaving behind her boat, a bonnet, and a sinister trail of missing pearl buttons.
- The City's Legalized Blackmail
A jury exposes the Seattle Police Department for shaking down women, proving that 'reform' administration was just a veneer.
- The Waterfront Fire That Outpaced the Firefighters
A historic Seattle row of buildings is gutted by fire as a mismanaged department struggles to contain the flames.
- Army Deployed Against Railroad Developers on Puyallup Land
Federal troops are dispatched to the Puyallup Reservation to physically stop a construction party from grading a railroad through Indigenous land.
- Showdown on the Puyallup Reservation
Federal troops arrive to halt a railroad construction project, igniting a fight over Indigenous sovereignty and citizen rights.
- Smugglers Land Thirty Chinese in Puget Sound
A high-speed steamer outruns revenue patrols to land migrants previously refused entry in Portland.
- City Official Ambushses Editor
Deputy City Comptroller Andrew Blakistone strikes Erasus Brainerd from behind with a cane following criticisms of a municipal court investigation.
- Seattle's Chinese Community Faces Forced Registration
Following a Supreme Court ruling, local merchants express fear, defiance, and uncertainty over the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Act.
- Puyallup Leader Peter Stanup Reported Missing in Tacoma
The Puyallup leader vanished after a night of drinking and tension over reservation land, leaving his community in mourning and suspicion.
- The Battle for the Mud Flats
City Engineer R.H. Thomson warns that the Seattle & Montana Railway’s proposed terminal layout would block the city's future industrial access and sabotage the drainage of the tide flats.
- The Mob That Stopped a Cannery
Business owners in Everett face threats and intimidation for attempting to hire Chinese labor.
- The Bank Robbers' Wild Escape in Ellensburg
Two notorious robbers jailed in Ellensburg staged a daring jailbreak, shot a local boy, and held a family hostage during a chaotic afternoon standoff.
- The Strange Death of Peter Stanup
A Puyallup man is found dead in the river, but a medical examiner’s autopsy suggests a violent neck injury rather than drowning, fueling rumors of a political conspiracy.
- The Kidnaping of Sam
A witness speaks out against the detention and deportation of a Chinese laborer by a local official.
- District Attorney Fired for Taking on Northern Pacific Railroad
Patrick Henry Winston, U.S. District Attorney for Washington, details his removal from office after attempting to hold the Northern Pacific Railroad accountable for timber theft.
- The Strange Disappearance of Nellie Holgate
A young Seattle woman reported missing for weeks is found alive in South Dakota, sparking a bizarre mystery involving insurance scammers and a grieving father.
- The Unsolved Disappearance of Nellie Holgate
After a saleswoman vanished from Lake Washington, a web of suspicious rewards, unidentified buttons, and mysterious boat trips left the city wondering if she had been killed or simply fled.
- Nellie Holgate’s Account Arrives Postmarked From Nebraska
After vanishing during a rowing trip to Madison Park, a Seattle woman reappears with a fantastical story of abduction by a mule-driving 'Italian' in the woods.
- Surveyors Expelled by Indigenous Resistance
Tensions rise as surveyors are pushed off the Colville reservation over contested land boundaries.
- A Deadly Brawl on the Grant Street Bridge
A notorious local plumber is killed in a violent confrontation with a Tacoma bartender after a night of heavy drinking.
- The Secret Game Under the Sidewalk
A reporter uncovers a network of hidden gambling dens and 'wire-puller' locks operating with total impunity under the city's reform administration.
- The 'Haytian Republic' and the Chinese Exclusion Pipeline
Federal authorities in Tacoma scramble as a steamer arrives from Vancouver carrying 161 Chinese passengers in defiance of exclusionary laws.
- A Tragedy of Grief in Pioneer Square
After his brother drowned at sea, a Seattle real estate agent died of a broken heart just days later.
- Olympia Editor's Fatal Shooting Goes to Trial
A high-stakes murder trial begins in Seattle as the prosecution argues a jilted lover's cold-blooded premeditation against the defense's plea of emotional insanity.