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.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 2 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1876 | 12 |
| 1877 | 17 |
| 1878 | 19 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1883 | 10 |
| 1884 | 8 |
| 1885 | 8 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 7 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 17 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 29 |
| 1893 | 27 |
| 1894 | 32 |
| 1895 | 45 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 9 |
| 1904 | 6 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 9 |
| 1910 | 6 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 4 |
311 stories matching tool
- The Tool Chest Heist
Three young men are caught after stealing tool chests from a construction site and selling them to fund a getaway to Victoria.
- Smuggling Scandal at Mary Island
A customs official is dismissed for allegedly allowing small craft to run illegal liquor shipments to Indigenous populations, sparking a debate on enforcement limits.
- The Shady Labor Contract
Workers in Seattle grow suspicious of an unusual labor solicitation demanding payment for tools.
- A Hostile Arrival at the Land Office
Local Democrats express outrage as a new federal land office register assumes power, fearing his appointment signals a partisan strike against the city.
- The Political Immolation of C.G. Heifner
When an out-of-town appointee snatched a local land office position, a Seattle official was burned in effigy by angry crowds in Skagit County.
- Great Northern Train Workers Arrested for Smuggling
Two railway employees were intercepted by immigration officers in Blaine after hiding Chinese migrants in a locomotive tool box.
- Tools Found, Thief Caught
A young man is arrested months after a suspected larceny involving building materials in the aftermath of a fire.
- An Undocumented Arrival in Whatcom
A Chinese man found hiding in a tool box on a rail car bound for Seattle illustrates the brutal reality of the Exclusion era.
- Tools of the Trade: Equipping the Snohomish Valley
A look at the essential machinery and blacksmithing services that powered the growth of Snohomish's logging and agricultural industries in the late 19th century.
- The 1885 Fight to Protect the Workingman’s Tools and Bedding
A proposed territorial law sought to expand property exemptions from debt, shielding everything from a mechanic's tools to a family's bedding from creditors.
- A Treasure Hunt Gone Underwater
While digging for a water source on Shaw Island, a local man struck a geyser that swallowed his tools and promised a new lake.
- Forging the Frontier in Snohomish
A local blacksmith offers specialized tools for the logging industry, reflecting the raw industrial ambition of the Snohomish River valley in the late 19th century.
- Fire Takes the Jay Gould Shaft House at Chewelah
A Friday-night blaze destroyed the mine's shaft house, its tools and cable, and the blacksmith shop — blamed on heat from the compost packed around the water pipes.
- An Inside Job at the County Jail
Two prisoners, a clerk accused of theft and an embezzling stevedore, escaped the King County jail by cutting their way out with tools smuggled from the outside.
- Forging the Frontier: The Blacksmiths of Snohomish
In the late 1880s, Snohomish City’s local iron-workers promised 'neatness and dispatch' for the tools that built the Pacific Northwest.
- Ancient Remains Unearthed Near Pullman
A gravel pit excavation on the Moscow-Pullman road has revealed the skeletal remains and tools of an Indigenous person, sparking local efforts to preserve the site's history.
- The Unlucky Blacksmith of Front Street
A routine building project in early Seattle ends in a chaotic tumble as a blacksmith shop collapses, sending tools and timber into the thoroughfare.
- The Steilacoom Gold Rush Fever
Reports from Colville suggest a new mining boom is drawing men away from the territory's established industries.
- Police Smash the Gaming Dens
Seattle authorities conduct a sweep of the city's gambling parlors, seizing tables and furniture in a public show of force.
- The Midnight Raid on Seattle's Gambling Halls
A surprise police sweep through Seattle's gaming dens sends hundreds of players scrambling into the rainy streets, leaving gambling tools and jail cells in their wake.
- Brutal Attack Near Camas Leaves Worker for Dead
A plumber was waylaid on a bridge near the Washougal River, robbed of his tools and savings, and thrown from the span by assailants who remain at large.
- A Crushed Finger Gave the Safecracker Away
A suspected Kent burglar was tracked to a Railroad Avenue cabin, where police found skeleton keys, drills and powder—then identified him by the crushed finger described in an old escape notice.
- Brooder Fire Wipes Out Local Poultry Farm
A pre-dawn blaze sparked by a lamp cost a local farmer his chicken house, tools, and over a hundred baby chicks.
- Embezzlement Charges Target Candidate for Supreme Bench
A political scandal erupts as accusations of financial impropriety in Arizona shadow a candidate's judicial run in Washington.
- A Political Slap in the Face
Seattle Democrats are reeling after President Cleveland bypassed local favorites to appoint a 'Skagit man' as land office register.