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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 |
4,679 stories
- The Tragic Death of Katherine Paetz
A young woman is found dead in a shack after fleeing home following a family dispute over her romantic choice.
- The Milwaukee Road Seeks Massive Tidelands Expansion
A railway franchise application reveals plans for new tracks, shops, and bridges across the Puyallup River, signaling a major industrial shift.
- A Monopoly Under Fire
Local business leaders are organizing to form a rival power company to break the grip of the Northwestern Gas and Electric Company.
- The $750,000 Park Vision for Tacoma
The Park Board seeks voter approval for a massive bond measure to build boulevards and secure land for public parks.
- Vagrancy Laws and the Expulsion of 'Undesirables'
Two women appearing in police court are fined and banished from the city under the guise of public morals.
- Mayor Accused of Silencing Health Official Over Water Safety
Physicians in Pierce County call a meeting at the Tacoma Hotel, suspecting the Mayor fired the bacteriologist to hide pollution data.
- Adjutant General Arrested in Embezzlement Scandal
Ortis Hamilton, a once-respected public official, faces charges of stealing thousands from the state of Washington to fund a lavish lifestyle.
- The Denny Station Rampage
A man fueled by alcohol kills his brother and sister-in-law in a violent spree near Seattle.
- A Farm Paper Accuses Olympia of Auctioning a Senate Seat
After the 1903 legislature adjourned, The Ranch blasted lawmakers for graft, railroad favoritism, a $3.25 million budget and $125,000 in fair appropriations.
- Yakima's Water Was Not for Sale
A farm paper accuses the Washington Irrigation Co. of trying to monopolize Yakima Valley reservoirs — and of bullying the legislature to get them.
- The Naturalization Law the Courts Were Supposed to Follow
A federal inspector finds courts skipping the new anarchist oath and, in Pierce County, granting citizenship to four Japanese men barred by federal rule.
- A Tacoma Nurse Shot a Stenographer, Then Drank Carbolic Acid
Grant fired on Miss Thorp as she came home, fled to his sister’s house at 8320 South M Street, and died before the ambulance arrived. Miss Thorp was wounded in the shoulder.
- Burning Oil, a Shattered Shanty, and a Logger Who Threw Two Men to Safety
Chester LaChapelle rescued his cousin and a roommate after a gasoline stove exploded near Kapowsin, sacrificing his own face and hands to the flames.
- A Railroad Cut Off This Tacoma Mill. Now the City May Give It a New Way In.
The North Shore Lumber Company wants to rebuild its burned plant beyond Old Town, but Northern Pacific condemnation left it without waterfront access. A permit to sluice logs over Alder Street could bring 100 jobs and a 100,000-foot-a-day mill back to the gulch.
- A Pick, a Stick of Dynamite, and a Supper Break That Killed a Man
A landslide buried the Great Northern's Spokane Falls Northern track near Marcus. The crew sent to clear it was never told the dynamite was already loaded — and grief over the dead man turned into gunfire before the sheriff arrived.
- The Councilman Who Lived Across the State Line
A lawyer’s residency challenge nearly voided a railroad franchise—and forced Councilman Eckerson to offer his resignation.
- The Hired Assassin: A Hotelkeeper's Plot Against Mrs. May North
A signed confession in the Spokane county jail reveals that the shooting of a woman at Elk, Washington, was no random attack but a cold-blooded murder plot arranged two months in advance.
- A 13-Year-Old Stole $7. He Got Five Years in Reform School.
A Springdale meat cutter's missing change led to a child's five-year sentence — a window into early-1900s juvenile justice.
- The Railroad Wanted the Streets. The Nagles Wanted Compensation.
Newport's council granted the Idaho & Washington Northern a franchise through Second and Third streets while Philip and Mary Nagle warned it would damage their property. A letter from M. M. Sammons also pressed the railroad to donate ten acres for a public park.
- The Town That Owned Nothing: Metaline's Squatters Fight Two Companies for Their Own Ground
Fifty residents of an unsurveyed Pend Oreille River mining camp petition the Spokane land office for a federal townsite — after a silver-lead company and a cement-clay claimant both tried to patent the ground out from under their homes.
- A Mother with a Rifle: Newport Woman Shoots Intruder Who Broke In
Mrs. O. F. Allen, alone with seven children on a ranch east of Newport, fought off a drunken man who forced his way into the house and shot him twice before the constable could be summoned.
- The Boom That Wasn't: 350 Workers Stranded in Newport
As the Idaho & Washington Northern extension stalled, contractors shipped in men before camps were ready; saloons fed and sheltered the stranded workforce.
- A Widow's Accusation and a Rancher's Denial
August Polinski, 68, is charged with assaulting his housekeeper near Camden; he calls the case a shakedown, and the hearing is postponed to Feb. 15.
- The Last Fuse: A Chewelah Mine Blast Kills One and Injures Another
At the Blue Star mine, Jay Michael was lighting the tenth fuse when the explosion came. Pearl Easterday died of head injuries before he could be brought to help.
- Two Men Crushed in a Railroad Cut — and Fifteen Walked Off the Job
A 35-foot construction cut collapsed at Gilbert Brandt's camp opposite LeClerc Creek, killing Otto Blad and Gus Nelson and injuring two others.