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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 |
1,830 stories
- The Millionaire, the Colonel, and the $100,000 Snowbank
Montana copper king Marcus Daly poured a fortune into a Cascade mountain mining camp — then sent an auditor up to see what the colonel had been doing with it.
- Ballard's New School Board Fires Its Best Teacher to Settle a Score
A freshly elected school board in Ballard drops two veteran teachers — including the superintendent — and a director admits it's because Miss Funk belonged to the wrong faction.
- The Second Street Streetcar Line Goes to Foreclosure
Bondholders ask a federal court to sell Seattle's Second Street railway and its branches, while creditors scramble to reorganize the line before it is lost.
- The Forest Empire That Built Washington
A sweeping 1900 survey of the state's lumber industry counted billions of feet of standing timber, 250 sawmills, and $7 million a year in wages—proof that the trees, not the cities, came first.
- The Denny Family's Streetcar Empire Comes Due
A tangle of promissory notes, pledged railway stocks and bonds lands D. T. Denny and his sons in superior court, with a judgment looming over Seattle's early car lines.
- The 1895 Push to Split Seattle From King County
A Chamber of Commerce meeting with new state legislators turned into a drive to separate Seattle from King County—and to force the school board to live within its means.
- The Governor's 1895 Warning: Washington Is Spending Itself Into Debt
A message to the legislature tallies a looming deficit, runaway appropriations and a public-land system under pressure — while urging lawmakers to lease harbor areas cheaply and defend taxpayers.
- Three Bickering Land Departments, Millions in Tide Lands, and a Demand for Answers
A state land commissioner admits the tide-land situation is 'chaotic in the extreme' and calls for a no-whitewash legislative probe — warning that divided authority is an open door to corruption.
- The Senate Seat and the Missing Quorum
Olympia Republicans try to unite behind Ankeny or Wilson, but a holiday exodus and a Populist refusal leave the 1895 U.S. Senate election in limbo.
- Spokane Rises Against a Senate Machine
Thousands of Spokane voters and organized labor protest John L. Wilson's election to the U.S. Senate, warning Olympia that the people will not pay for a machine's contracts.
- Spokane's Revolt Against a Railroad-Backed Senator
In 1895, thousands of Eastern Washington voters signed a protest against John L. Wilson, charging that four transcontinental railroads had bought his Senate candidacy while freight rates drained the region dry.
- Thirty Ballots and No Senator: Olympia's Republican Caucus Breaks Apart
After thirty futile ballots, Wilson's supporters bolted rather than back Ankeny, leaving Washington's Republican legislative caucus deadlocked and King County's delegation exposed.
- Twenty-Three Ballots, No Senator
Washington's legislature spends the day deadlocked between Levi Ankeny and John L. Wilson, while George Turner withdraws and a bogus Tacoma Ledger interview roils the contest.
- The Pastor, the Missing Husband, and the Seattle Libel Trial
A church feud goes to court as Rev. M. H. Nichols is tried for circulating scandalous charges against Dr. T. B. Ford—whose testimony reveals a broken engagement, a vanished first husband, and a dramatic courtroom kiss.
- A Withdrawal, a Broken Deal, and a Senate Nominee
Levi Ankeny stepped aside, a rival bargain collapsed, and John L. Wilson rode a fifth-ballot surge to the Republican caucus nomination for U.S. senator in Olympia.
- The Treasurer's Bond Begins to Crumble
Two surety names vanish from John W. Maple's $400,000 bond, and more may follow as King County waits for its prosecutor.
- The Church Revival Gang
A group of young men terrorized a River Park church with indecent songs and laughter, leading to a showdown with a determined pastor.
- Farmers vs. the Railroads: The $3-a-Ton Fight in Olympia
At a legislative hearing, Washington's grain growers demand a cap on wheat freight rates — while Northern Pacific warns the bill will come straight out of its working men's wages.
- The Fight to Build Washington's Capitol—and the Man Who Wanted It in Puyallup
A state commission says the capitol can be finished debt-free, but a rival town's booster has other ideas.
- The General and the Missing Military Money
A Senate committee says Washington's adjutant general ran the militia like a personal fiefdom, blew through his appropriation and left the state with a military deficiency.
- Washington's Public Lands Were Run by a Patchwork. Reformers Wanted One Powerful Board.
A joint legislative committee concludes that county tide-land boards, roving land cruisers and district attorneys have wasted public money, and recommends a three-member state land board to manage school and tide lands.
- Olympia Adjourns: Reform Bills Pass, but Railroad Rate Relief Dies
Washington’s 1893 legislature closes in a rush of land, school, tax, and institution bills—while the Senate refuses to cut freight rates for Eastern Washington wheat growers.
- The Governor Vetoes Debtor Relief—and Warns It Would Speed Foreclosures
Gov. McGraw kills a bill meant to shield struggling debtors, arguing it cannot apply to existing contracts and may trigger the mortgage sales it was supposed to prevent.
- Seattle Citizens Rally to Fund the Lake Washington Ship Canal
A packed meeting at the Armory raises thousands in pledges for the waterway that would connect Elliott Bay to Lake Washington.
- The Outlaw's Only Friend Comes Home to Seattle
Tom Blanck's sole confidant returns from Victoria and tells a reporter what the notorious Northwest criminal was really like — a killer who never touched liquor or tobacco, and who swore he'd never be taken alive.