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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1891 | 173 |
| 1892 | 159 |
332 stories
- Council Trims the Streetcar Franchise
Olympia’s aldermen refused the franchise on Union Street and Maple Park Avenue, barred local freight hauling, and demanded free use of the company’s poles for the city’s fire alarm.
- The Boat Builder and the Missing Cornerstone
Courtland Ethridge arrived in Olympia in 1851, built some of its earliest landmarks, and left behind a Masonic hall with a mystery buried under it.
- Forty Thousand Bricks Rejected at the New Courthouse
Superintendent Rogers refused to let nearly 40,000 soft bricks from a Westside yard go into Olympia's new courthouse, warning contractors that the specifications would be enforced.
- Olympia’s ‘Miserable’ Street Railway Is Holding the City Back
An 1891 editorial demands that the city cancel the Olympia Street Railway’s charter and clear Main and Fourth streets for electric cars, arguing the two rickety horse cars are a disgrace and a drag on growth.
- The School Law That Existed Only in the Enrolled Bill
A $3,700 school-fund dispute in Spokane exposed a legislative clerk's error—and left Washington's superintendent asking whether the enrolled bill or the journals were law.
- The Trolley That Had to Buy a Gulch
A streetcar line blocked by a ravine gets its way to Harrison Avenue — for the price of a $1,630 strip of C. M. Moore's block 48.
- Twenty-Four Officers Wanted the Adjutant General Gone
A petition against Adjutant General O’Brien reached the governor, who refused to demand a resignation—prompting a theatrical outburst from Tacoma’s “Little Corporal.”
- A Taxpayer Tries to Stop the City From Writing Checks It Can’t Cover
Francis Hoffman and the Olympia Hardware Company ask a judge to block further city warrants, arguing Olympia has blown past its debt limit.
- The Sunday Search of Olympia's Chinese Gardens
A newly sworn customs inspector found opium hidden among vegetables and buried in boxes, arrested one man, and left the city's Chinese market gardens under guard.
- The Respectable Olympia Doctor Who May Have Been a Missing Iowa Treasurer
After Dr. S. C. Smith died in Olympia, an old army comrade wrote to ask whether the beloved physician was really Dr. S. C. Thompson, who vanished from Leon, Iowa, in 1872.
- Olympia's 1891 City Election: Ward Caucuses, Backroom Maneuvers, and a Fight Over Fair Play
As the Third Ward nominates a councilman and candidates jockey for mayor and treasurer, a taxpayer protests a plan for a mass convention that would sideline ward delegates.
- Olympia Puts Its Bond Mess on Ice—and the Mayor Objects
A council committee recommends leaving the 1891 bond tangle to the next administration; the mayor warns the city is “in a mud hole” and wants the courts to force a decision.
- A Sunday-Night Letter Asks Why Olympia Lets Main Street Saloons Run Loud
A reader complains of drinking, dancing and noise in the saloons below Third and demands that police keep young boys out of the crowds.
- A Road Along the Water — and a Pitch to Merge Olympia and Tumwater
A Tumwater booster argues a beach road is the only sensible link between the two towns, and floats consolidating them into one city to build it.
- The Eighteenth Promise of Mr. Savage
Olympia's street railway president vows a coal-oil motor, fifteen-minute service, and an Eastside extension—mostly, the paper suspects, for real estate.
- Edison's Noiseless Motor and the Race to Put Olympia on Rails
Two Edison men pitch a single-reduction streetcar motor to Olympia's electric company, promising rails by the Fourth of July—if property holders cooperate on subsidies.
- Childhood Accident Leaves Three Injured
A young boy playing with gunpowder in a home near Olympia caused an explosion that injured three children.
- Street Railway Lawyer Loses Case After Missing Court
A legal representative for the local street railway company loses a judgment by default after failing to appear in court.
- The Transformation of Jim
After serving time in jail, a local man known as Jim commits to learning English and adopting American customs.
- Gold, Silver, Tin—and a Secret Location in the Black Hills
A prospector arrives in Olympia with ore said to carry gold, silver, tin and cinnabar, but he won’t say where it came from.
- The $25,000 Schoolhouse and the Competition That Smelled
A letter writer asks the school board a sharp question: if the winning architect was allowed to redraw his plans after the price came in too high, what exactly was the competition for?
- Olympia's Building-Loan Society Built Three Homes and Paid 4½ Percent
A half-year statement from the Olympia Building Loan Association showed 450 shares in force, a net profit of $634.50, and three new houses—then opened a new subscription series.
- A Horsewhipping on Fourth Street
Herman Ramm publicly thrashed Dan House with a blacksnake whip, drawing a crowd—and leaving the 'outrageous offense' unnamed.
- A Logger Who Lost His Sight, His Health and Everything in His Wife's Name
A former New York volunteer, once a man of some means, leaves Olympia for the Soldiers' Home at Orting with his property gone and his eyesight failing.
- Orchardists Want Thurston County to Stop Betting on Town Lots
A new horticultural society forms in Olympia, promising experiments in fruit, flowers and prunes—and a future beyond real-estate speculation.