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.
Refine2 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 37 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 30 |
| 1886 | 16 |
| 1887 | 59 |
| 1888 | 27 |
| 1889 | 60 |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1891 | 46 |
| 1892 | 223 |
| 1893 | 227 |
| 1894 | 203 |
| 1895 | 161 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 4 |
| 1899 | 26 |
| 1903 | 56 |
| 1904 | 789 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 7 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 726 |
| 1910 | 3 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1916 | 7 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1924 | 3 |
726 stories
- Federal Court Dismisses Claims on Puyallup Shore Lands
A landmark judicial ruling clears the way for industrial development by stripping the Puyallup Tribe of their claims to Tacoma’s valuable tidelands.
- 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 Anti-Vaccination Protest of 1909
Tacoma parents, barred from sending their children to public schools, organize a legislative campaign against compulsory vaccination laws.
- The Price of Tacoma’s Railroad Growth
After a grueling two-year standoff, the city grants Jim Hill massive concessions in exchange for long-promised freight terminals and a new depot.
- The High School Garroter
A fifteen-year-old high school student is in custody after confessing to a series of violent street robberies in Tacoma.
- Race Riot Erupts in Opera Alley
A domestic dispute over smoke turns into a mob confrontation between a Black household and local Italian residents.
- Three Thousand Boosters Eat, Cheer, and Rebrand Tacoma
One night in February 1909: 3,000 boosters packed the armory, picked a new city slogan — 'You'll Like Tacoma' — and got sermons on land, liquor, and who should own the tide flats.
- A Shoemaker's Carefully Planned Farewell at the Grand Hotel
Carl Eggert, despondent over his wife's death and his son's suicide, shot himself in a Tacoma hotel after leaving detailed notes, money for the cleanup, and instructions to wait until morning.
- The Mysterious Burial on South O Street
A workman clearing land in Tacoma stumbled upon a bizarre scene: a well-dressed young man on a bicycle burying an infant in a shallow grave.
- Police Purge Streets of Sandberg District Women
City police launch a targeted campaign to round up and banish marginalized women from Tacoma's downtown.
- The Guggenheim-Morgan Industrial Play for Tacoma
A proposed $20 million expansion of the Tacoma smelter and a new fleet of ships aim to cement a copper monopoly on the Pacific coast.
- Every Hospital Turned Him Away, So the Health Officer Decided to Open One Himself
A contagious patient with nowhere to go, a council that won't pay its bills, and a health commissioner who dug up a forgotten ordinance and stopped asking permission.
- The Price of a Transit Franchise
Tacoma’s City Council strikes a bargain for new railway depots in Old Town and the Narrows, bartering city streets for future development.
- Tacoma Grand Jury Indicts Mayor and Officials Over 'Social Evil' District
A sweeping probe into city vice and municipal corruption concludes with calls for reform and the indictment of the mayor.
- The Great Tacoma Freeze of 1909
A record-breaking cold wave and gale-force winds rattle the city, freezing pipes and sending houseboats adrift.
- Shocking Lawsuit Filed Over Faulty Electrical Socket
A local mother sues for $20,045 after her six-year-old son was paralyzed by an electrical jolt from a home light fixture.
- City Wins Long Battle Over Northern Pacific Land
Tacoma secures major property concessions worth half a million dollars after a two-year fight with the railroad.
- Grand Jury Digs Into the Restricted District
A secret investigation into local vice and government corruption begins, with former inhabitants of Tacoma's restricted district called to testify.
- The Disappearing Developer
A local real estate operator vanishes, leaving behind a trail of dishonored checks, uncompleted houses, and angry creditors across Tacoma.
- Shot by a Rejected Lover, Mabel Thorp Is Mending at St. Joseph's
Two days after Ernest Grant shot her and then drank acid to kill himself, the young Tacoma woman is healing fast — the bullet wound, the paper reports, is nearly closed, but the shock is another matter.
- One Punch in a Tacoma Saloon, and Three Days Later a Man Was Dead
A Seattle commercial traveler needled a dog, then a bartender. He walked the streets with a fractured skull for three days before he finally asked for a hospital — and his last coherent claim was that he'd been sandbagged.
- He Kept a $5,000 Reward Posted for His Missing Wife. Then He Drank Himself to Death.
Christine Nelson stepped into a New York hotel room in October and was never seen again. Her husband spent a fortune and two trips East searching — and died this morning at St. Joseph's.
- The Fern Hill Streetcar Siege
Residents of a Tacoma suburb blockade streetcar tracks for nearly 24 hours to protest a fare hike.