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 |
2,116 stories
- Cold Case: The Skokomish Peddler Murder
A murder trial abruptly concludes as the judge dismisses the case for lack of evidence.
- The Deportation of Charlie Ah Fat
A long-time resident of Whatcom County faces deportation under the exclusionary Geary Act after failing to correctly register his presence.
- The Battle for Kenney Street
A dispute over a blocked street in the Williams addition marks the first legal test of new laws allowing the city to condemn land for public use.
- Coxey's Army and the Struggle for the Rails
As the Seattle division of the 'Industrial Army' marches toward Washington, D.C., they face off against marshals and soldiers in a desperate attempt to cross the mountains.
- Memorial Day Parades and Politics
Seattle celebrated Memorial Day with a massive procession and a theater program, where speakers linked the memory of Union veterans to modern anxieties over labor unrest and immigration.
- Record Floods Wreak Havoc at Kettle Falls
Unprecedented mountain snowmelt triggers massive flooding on the Columbia, washing away bridges and isolating local settlements.
- The Governor Condemns the Colfax Lynching Mob
Governor McGraw orders an investigation into the extrajudicial murder of two men in Whitman County, declaring that mob violence is no substitute for the courts.
- Former Official Accused of Child Abuse
A criminal complaint against former Secretary of State Allen Weir sparks local debate over the bounds of corporal punishment.
- Embezzling banker flees to parts unknown
A former Island County bank cashier accused of stealing nearly $15,000 has skipped town, leaving his legal defense behind.
- Tide Lands Battle: Northern Pacific Faces New Legal Hurdle
A Supreme Court ruling on harbor lines threatens the expansive waterfront infrastructure held by the railroad giant.
- The Editor and the Chief
The editor of the Seattle Telegraph is charged with criminal libel after publishing a scathing exposé on the police chief's alleged protection of gambling dens.
- The Fight for Puyallup Land Rights
A Congressional debate reveals the struggle for tribal land ownership and the interference of government commissions.
- Tacoma’s Missing Warrant Book and the Forgery Scandal at City Hall
A former assistant city clerk had already been sent to prison. Now his talk of accomplices had Tacoma officials eyeing a missing warrant book and city paper selling at a steep discount in Chehalis.
- Tacoma’s City Jobs Become a Sectarian Battleground
A Catholic vicar general says the anti-Catholic A.P.A. is driving Catholics off the public payroll—and the fire chief’s firing has the city trading charges.
- The Killer Who Died Before the Verdict
O. H. Miller died under indictment for two murders. From an asylum, his son claims he knows where the murder weapon lies—at the bottom of a lake near Mercer Island.
- A Populist Feud Ended in Disappearance—and Charles Gloystein Was Never Found
After being hanged in effigy and warned to leave Mica, the Spokane County farmer vanished. His family and editors suspected political murder; no body ever surfaced.
- Spokane Merchants Take the Railroad Monopoly Back to Court
Thirty-five Spokane merchants ask a federal judge to force the Northern Pacific and Union Pacific to obey an 1891 Interstate Commerce Commission order that found the roads were gouging the inland city.
- A Dispatcher's 'Lap Order' Sent Two Freight Trains Head-On Near Orting
A single mistake on a foggy single-track line killed engineer Louis U. Harmon and critically injured fireman Edward F. Martin—and left the dispatcher waiting helplessly for the crash.
- Tacoma Beats the Electric Company in Court and Keeps Selling Cheap Light
A Pierce County judge ruled the city may supply its own electricity — and that the private Commercial Electric Light Company has no right to shut down a competitor whose prices are simply too low for it to match.
- The Bank President’s Private Till: Walla Walla’s Savings Bank Scandal
An expert’s report finds that J. K. Edmiston used the failed bank’s money for personal claims, had the books “fixed,” and left more than $151,000 in worthless notes.
- The Last Voyage of Ronald McDonald
Son of an Astor Fur Company founder and grandson of Chief Comcomly, Ronald McDonald dies on the Colville Indian Reservation after a life of shipwreck, captivity, and frontier guiding.
- The Diamond Palace Jeweler Who Vanished With the Stock
Simon Rumpf’s 'Diamond Palace' is placed in receivership after creditors allege he conspired to transfer his stock and then disappeared.
- Tacoma’s Electric Light War
A private power company accuses the city of selling light below cost to drive it out of business—and of a local editor gagging the story because he runs his own hotel plant.
- The City Against the Light Company
A judge threatens Tacoma's public works board with contempt as the city and a private electric company go to war over rates — and a newspaper editor with his own private electrical plant gets called out in the process.
- Guilty in Two Minutes: The Bunko Man With a Revolver in His Past
Knowlton, alias 'Robert George,' was convicted of swindling an Aberdeen banker with two copper bars sold as gold—then prosecutors unpacked a record that included a murdered minister and a courtroom shooting.