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 |
4,679 stories
- Rejected Suitor Shoots Tacoma Woman and Ends His Life
A young worker targeted by a spurned admirer survives the shooting while the assailant commits suicide outside her home.
- City Faces Lawsuit After Fatal Electrocution
Lawyers prepare to sue the city over the deaths of two men who were killed while turning on electric lights.
- The Scandal of the Sandberg District
City council members launch a blistering investigation into a protected 'vice syndicate' they allege is forcing hundreds of women into a restricted district.
- The Great Wheat Fraud of Whitman County
A farmer’s widow fights for her grain after a bankrupt buyer leaves her with a worthless check and a vanishing act.
- A Wedding Behind Bars
Facing a federal trial for alleged human trafficking, a Walla Walla man escapes prison by marrying his accuser in a startling turn of events.
- The Fake Postal Inspector Who Robbed the Great Northern — and Got Away With Less Than $5
A bogus federal inspector bound two mail clerks, rifled registered pouches, and slipped off the Oriental Limited at Spokane, leaving Newport authorities to piece together a brazen, almost profitless heist.
- An Armed Posse Meets a Railroad Camp Riot
After a crew of Bulgarian laborers turns on their roadmaster at Ruby, Newport sends an armed posse to Usk and jails 56 men.
- A Spokane Judge Said the Mayor Couldn't Silence the I.W.W. While Letting Everyone Else Speak
Judge Mann struck down a street-speaking ordinance that favored the Salvation Army and political celebrities, even as jailed Wobblies weakened on a hunger strike.
- The Great Telephone Wars of Tacoma
A rival phone company manager staged a bizarre arrest of his competitor to derail a franchise bid—only for the plot to unravel at the police station.
- A 1909 Newspaper Campaign Against Japanese Immigrants
A local labor newspaper warns that the white working class of Everett faces the same economic ruin as San Francisco due to competition from Japanese laborers.
- The Tragic Sinking of the Steamer Clallam
A devastating storm claims the lives of dozens as the Puget Sound Navigation Company’s new steamer founders in the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
- Steamboat Clallam Sinks Near Victoria in 1904
A new passenger steamer sinks in the mist of Puget Sound near Victoria, adding a somber chapter to a recent string of local disasters.
- Tacoma Mourns Five Residents Lost on the Steamship Clallam
Tacoma reels from the loss of five residents in a deadly steamboat sinking as questions of seaworthiness arise.
- The Tragic Sinking of the SS Clallam
A maritime disaster in the Straits claims the lives of dozens, including prominent Tacoma residents, sparking a federal investigation.
- Great Northern Train Derails into the Wenatchee River
A passenger train falls into a washed-out track near Leavenworth, leaving three dead and passengers clinging to life in the mountain currents.
- Northern Pacific Moves to Control Tacoma's Railroad Avenue
How the Northern Pacific Railroad maneuvered the city council to seize prime tide-flat property, effectively bottling up Tacoma's harbor and blocking competition.
- The Town That Was Blown Up to Save Itself
Leavenworth citizens dynamited the Cascade Hotel to halt a massive inferno, narrowly avoiding a secondary disaster.
- The Loss of Tribal Sovereignty in Puyallup
A federal ruling stripped the Puyallup Tribe of their status as wards, opening reservation lands to unrestricted sale and private development.
- The Great Aberdeen Conflagration
A wooden city faces total annihilation as a massive fire sweeps through the business district, claiming hotels, banks, and the opera house.
- The Expulsion Continues
A group of Chinese travelers is forcibly escorted out of Tacoma by local longshoremen, confirming the city's rigid policy of exclusion.
- The Great Tacoma Water Flimflam
A look back at the 1890 council scandal that left the city with a mountain of debt and a useless water system.
- Homestead Fraud and the Limits of Government Power
A landmark federal court ruling questions whether departmental regulations can be enforced as criminal law.
- The Cowardice of the SS Clallam
A passenger's desperate leap into a crowded lifeboat leads to the death of twenty women and children.
- Springdale Burned. The Reformer Didn’t Miss an Issue.
A fire swept away Springdale’s entire business district and wiped out its newspaper office. Editor Burrows still published an account of the blaze and promised a new press.
- The Federal Government Begins Land Allotments for the Calispel Tribe
Clair Hunt arrives in the Calispel Valley to begin the process of partitioning land for the Calispel people, a move following a special act of Congress.