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 | 22 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 5 |
| 1861 | 14 |
| 1862 | 16 |
| 1863 | 10 |
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1872 | 9 |
| 1876 | 12 |
| 1877 | 20 |
| 1878 | 19 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 28 |
| 1884 | 19 |
| 1885 | 15 |
| 1886 | 23 |
| 1887 | 16 |
| 1888 | 10 |
| 1889 | 30 |
| 1890 | 7 |
| 1891 | 67 |
| 1892 | 53 |
| 1893 | 94 |
| 1894 | 43 |
| 1895 | 100 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 5 |
| 1899 | 12 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 28 |
| 1904 | 9 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 5 |
| 1909 | 100 |
| 1910 | 26 |
| 1911 | 8 |
| 1912 | 9 |
| 1914 | 4 |
| 1915 | 6 |
| 1916 | 12 |
| 1917 | 8 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 14 |
| 1924 | 2 |
| 1925 | 4 |
| 1929 | 4 |
12 stories matching legisl
- Dairymen Demand a Brand on Every Pound of Butter
Washington's creamery men move to outlaw rebranded Eastern butter and process butter sold as the real thing — and a leading dealer offers to help write the bill.
- The Gold Rush That Never Was: How Canadian Laws Stifled Seattle’s Northern Dream
A Victoria contractor tells the Star that new British Columbia legislation has turned away American miners, leaving Alaska's gold fields dark and local businesses in ruins.
- Seattle’s Wire War: Why the City Can’t Wait for Electric Companies to Dig
As corporations drag their feet on burying overhead lines, a local editorial warns that procrastination is a corporate scheme to defeat the public will.
- The Hog Ranch That Stank Up Seattle: How One Interbay Farm Sparked a New Law
In 1900, a single hog ranch near the city’s water source forced the Seattle City Council to draft an ordinance limiting livestock—a rare early victory for urban sanitation and public health.
- A 50-Year Teamster Tells the Legislature to Keep Its Hands Off His Wagon Wheels
A Moran Prairie farmer pushes back against a Seattle-backed bill to mandate wide wagon tires, arguing that city men who never drove a loaded team shouldn't legislate for the men who do.
- The Great Dry Crusade: Seattle’s Religious Leaders Unite to Close the Saloons
In a packed meeting at the First M.E. Church, clergy and temperance advocates organized a new anti-saloon league, aiming to dismantle the liquor trade through moral pressure rather than just legislation.
- The Great Seattle Streetcar Franchise Fight: Why Short Leases Save the City
As city councilors debate a controversial 40-year lease for street railway operations, The Seattle Star argues that short-term concessions are the only way to prevent corporate greed from strangling public transit.
- The Great Washington Enrolment Error: How a Senate Amendment Slipped Into a Harbor Bill
A clerical mistake in the final printing of a river and harbor bill has inserted a controversial $10 million amendment intended for Galveston into legislation for Seattle's Elliott Bay, sparking threats of filibuster and legal chaos.
- The Milk That Killed Children: A Call for State Inspection
E. A. McDonald tells the dairymen that impure city milk is a leading killer of children and that Seattle alone employs a milk inspector — and Prof. Pearson adds a wry tale of a cow that supposedly supplied one customer for seventeen years.
- The Lumber Barons’ Ultimatum: 'No Treaty Without Tariff Protection'
In a packed Tacoma hall in June 1904, Seattle’s top timber executives drew a hard line with Senator Fairbanks: if the U.S. wants a trade deal with Canada, it must keep lumber tariffs high—or lose the Pacific Northwest’s economic backbone.
- The War on Narrow Wagon Wheels
Seattle's Chamber of Commerce wants the legislature to force wider wagon tires — to save the city's wooden sidewalks and brick streets from being chewed to pieces.
- The Iron Fist of Labor: Seattle’s Unions Unite to Control the City
A comprehensive look at the Western Central Labor Union and its affiliated trades—bricklayers, carpenters, and iron workers—who have effectively monopolized construction in Seattle.