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 |
2,855 stories
- The Murder in Governor Stevens’s Outer Office
A former Hudson’s Bay man recalls the Puget Sound War: decapitated heads carried to Olympia, Chief Leschi hanged near Fort Steilacoom, and his brother Quiemal killed while waiting to surrender.
- The Dispossession of Josephine Hatch
A Snohomish widow, unable to speak English, sues a powerful land conglomerate for swindling her out of a multi-million dollar stake in the founding of Everett.
- A Death-Trap Elevator in the Ball Block
An 18-year-old stenographer is critically injured after stepping into an open elevator shaft in downtown Tacoma, highlighting a pattern of mechanical neglect.
- The 'Ram's Horn' Railroad Riot at Yesler Way
A morning of chaotic track-laying, derailed railcars, and a shouting match between the Mayor and a railroad giant over a contested franchise.
- Railroad War Erupts on the Seattle Waterfront
The Great Northern and Lake Shore railroads face off in a midnight standoff over coal bunker right-of-way.
- A Violent Opium Sting Goes Wrong
An attempt by customs officers to pose as black-market buyers of 375 pounds of opium resulted in a brutal, bloody brawl that left three people hospitalized.
- Sheriff Solves 1892 Mercer Island Cabin Murder
After the mutilated body of George Richards washed ashore, a confession from an accomplice revealed a desperate struggle and a grisly disposal in Lake Washington.
- Seattle Denounces Corporate 'Pinkertonism'
Thousands gather at Pioneer Place to protest the use of armed private forces against labor, following the violent Homestead Riot in Pennsylvania.
- Fatal Shootout at the Pacific Hotel
A notorious horse thief is killed in a violent struggle after attempting to free his son-in-law from custody.
- The Tragic End of a Lonely Immigrant
A German immigrant, once prosperous and educated, dies by suicide in a lonely cabin on the Grant Street Bridge after years of decline and heartbreak.
- The 'High-Handed' Abduction of Non-Union Sailors
A group of laborers were forcibly removed from their ship at Port Gamble by a union crowd and sent penniless to Victoria under false pretenses.
- The Tragic End of Etta Harris
A daughter is murdered by her own father in Tacoma, exposing a twisted history of obsession, jealousy, and fatal control.
- A Knife Fight in the Bay: Union Sailors Ambush a Non-Union Crew
A boarding master tries to ship five strikebreakers onto an Alaska salmon schooner at Port Townsend. Twelve union men are waiting in the water, and the fight that follows leaves every non-union sailor hurt and swimming for shore.
- A Leap from the Window at 1718 Madison
Assistant city electrician E.C. Buckley barely escaped a brutal assault after his landlord, driven by baseless jealousy, armed himself and hunted him down.
- The Ousting of Professor Willers
A prominent Tacoma linguist and ordained minister is kidnapped by a group of men following allegations of 'unnatural conduct' with his students.
- Violence Erupts Against Non-Union Workers
A violent confrontation occurs at a Seattle boarding house as anti-labor tensions boil over.
- The Explosion at Deadman's Point
A colossal blast of two and a half tons of dynamite levels waterfront shanties and shatters windows miles away.
- Couple Arrested for Alleged Trafficking of Swedish Immigrant
Police break up a scheme to force a young Swedish woman into prostitution at a Kinnear block tenement.
- City Hall's Quarantine Deadlock
As the Board of Health scrambles to map an imaginary quarantine line for cholera, the city's inability to pay for basic sanitation has created a public health crisis.
- The Secretary Asks the Puyallups Whether They Are Fit to Hold Their Own Land
Interior Secretary John W. Noble met 200 Puyallup people on the reservation and promised to carry their wish to sell to President Harrison — after satisfying himself that they could be trusted with the money.
- Spokane Editor Survives Shooting Over Indecent Literature Charges
A local editor was fired upon in the street after a dispute over a rival publication's legal troubles.
- The Chief's Daughter in the Shadow of the City Named for Her Father
A San Francisco Chronicle correspondent visits Princess Angeline in her Seattle shack and finds the city proudly carving her father's face on a new business block while his daughter lives on charity.
- The Town That Grew in Ninety Days—and Then Waited for the Railroad
In 1890, promoters carved Anacortes out of the Fidalgo Island forest, sold lots at galloping prices, and promised a transcontinental rail terminal. Two years later, the trains still stopped short and the company wharf was closed to the public.
- The Man They Called an Informer
After learning English in the county jail, a Chinese Olympian announced he would cut his queue and become 'American.' His community branded him a snitch—and the Tribune turned his peril into an anti-Chinese exposé.
- The Steamship Captain Who Defied the Union with a Revolver and a Hot-Water Hose
When labor organizers boarded the schooner 'Maid of Oregon' to enforce a non-union purge, the sixty-five-year-old captain met them with a weapon in one hand and a blast of steam in the other.