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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 |
1,115 stories
- Moving the University: A Fight Over Land and Legacy
Legislators and local boosters draft a plan to relocate the University of Washington and untangle decades of messy land titles.
- A Young Girl Vanishes from a Spokane Variety Theater
A teenage girl is missing after being allegedly coerced into a variety theater, sparking a public outcry and exposing local police corruption.
- The Gambling Judge of Port Townsend
A state legislative committee moves to impeach Superior Court Judge Morris B. Sachs after reports surface of him frequenting saloons, playing faro, and ruling on cases involving family members.
- The Trial of Carrie Goldsmith
A police court judge hears a test case against a 'disorderly woman' that could determine the fate of dozens of others facing arrest.
- Seattle's Justice System Ruled Illegal
A state Supreme Court decision against Tacoma’s police court has triggered a legal crisis in Seattle, leaving local officials scrambling to save the city’s ability to prosecute crime.
- The Coal Mine Wars of Newcastle
A bitter, multi-year feud between rival miners' unions at the Newcastle coal mines turns violent, leaving families blacklisted and armed detectives patrolling the company town.
- Blood on the Rails Near Thorpe
A railroad conductor was nearly killed by an impudent waiter on an eastbound train, leading to a tense standoff and a dramatic shooting.
- The Midnight Wait for Sunnyside Land
Homesteaders staked out a long, cold vigil at the land office, only to find the government had already cut a backroom deal.
- A Tense Town Meeting Over Business Leases
Citizens gathered at City Hall to protest the arrival of Chinese businesses, only to find themselves divided and without a legal strategy.
- The City Council as a Traveling Circus
North Yakima’s municipal government descends into physical brawls and political instability.
- The tugboat blockade at Grays Harbor
A local editor exposes a corrupt tugboat manager for sabotaging a critical federal survey of the harbor bar.
- The Siege of the Water Works
A property dispute between a private landowner and the city of Aberdeen escalates into a standoff involving armed men, city officials, and an eventual arrest.
- A Hero Betrayed by Paperwork
A local Indigenous hero, renowned for saving shipwrecked crews, faces the loss of his homestead due to a bureaucratic failure.
- The Grand Design for the Sunnyside Canal
A multi-million dollar irrigation project promises to transform arid lands into an agricultural empire, aiming to support 60,000 residents.
- A Coal Town Rebellion
Roslyn voters unseat the company-backed mayor, citing mismanagement of public funds in a corporate-run coal town.
- The Late-Night Fight That Killed Washington's First University Building
A governor's-office showdown between the state auditor and the university building commission halted construction, left laborers unpaid, and pushed Olympia toward a special legislative session.
- Caught in the Dynamo: A Tacoma Worker Squeezed to Death at His Post
Edward H. Curran was at his station in the Tacoma Light and Water Company's electric plant when the machinery pulled him through a gap far too small for a man, breaking nearly every bone in his body.
- A Blind Herb Doctor and the Death of a 14-Year-Old
An Olympia coroner’s jury found that Clara M. Linton died from the botanical treatments of Dr. William T. Campbell, a blind patent-medicine practitioner who promised her father a cure.
- The Treasurer Who Vanished, Then Wrote Home From Puget Sound
An Iowa county official disappeared in the 1870s. After his death, his family gathered at the Olympia Hotel to settle an estate—and letters revealed a hidden life, a bank failure, and a real-estate boom he hoped would make restitution possible.
- A Tinker's Alibi: How Tumwater Witnesses Overturned a Tacoma Murder Conviction
George Stowe was serving twenty years for shooting Enoch Crosby on a Tacoma street. Then residents of Tumwater swore they had watched him mend tinware miles away on the day of the murder.
- A Tramp's Alibi: Thirty Tumwater Witnesses and a Murder Conviction Undone
A poor itinerant tinker was jailed for a Tacoma murder until residents of a small Thurston County hotel town swore he was miles away. The state Supreme Court ordered a new trial.
- Liquor Dealers Organize to Capture City Council
A slim meeting at Columbia Hall reveals a saloon-backed push to elect Murphy and Grainger, as the liquor interests try to regain control after last year's defeat.
- A Chimney Sweep’s Fatal Fall—and the Hidden Injury That Killed Him
Joseph Bauer fell from Judge Henry’s roof while sweeping a chimney. He seemed merely bruised—until a ruptured liver killed him days later, prompting a rare post-mortem watched by Olympia’s doctors.
- Seven Inches in Ten Days: The Flood That Broke Puget Sound
A warm Chinook melted mountain snow into relentless rain, washing out the Northern Pacific, wrecking the Naphtha launch works, and isolating towns from Tacoma to Seattle.
- A County With No Hospital Turns a Private Home Into One
When the injured and dying were thrown on San Juan County's mercy, the new Overseer of the Poor had nowhere to put them but his own house.