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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 421 |
| 1889 | 1,084 |
| 1891 | 492 |
| 1892 | 2,259 |
| 1893 | 2,699 |
| 1894 | 2,015 |
| 1895 | 1,830 |
10,800 stories
- The Midnight Kidnapping of the 'Wasco' Deckhands
A bitter labor dispute on the Seattle waterfront spills into open water as union men board a steamer to abduct non-union workers.
- The Great Debate: Where Should Seattle's Ship Canal Go?
In 1892, federal engineers weighed the massive engineering feat of connecting Lake Washington to Puget Sound, deliberating whether to carve the path through Salmon Bay or Smith Cove.
- The Shackled Sailors of the Karoo
A federal judge in Tacoma intervenes to protect a crew 'inveigled' onto a British ship, exposing a brutal system of forced labor and maritime exploitation.
- The Railway King vs. The 'Bow in the Ram's Horn'
James J. Hill, the legendary railroad titan, packs the Seattle City Council chambers to demand a straight track through the city's waterfront, warning that 'bottlenecking' the rails would cost the city its future.
- The Heiress, the Invalid, and the Absent Executor
A nineteen-year-old Snoqualmie woman fights a legal battle against a powerful executor who left her destitute and in debt despite a $100,000 family estate.
- The City’s Debt Crisis of 1892
Facing a massive budget deficit, Seattle officials put a sweeping plan for fiscal reform and infrastructure bonds to a direct vote of the people.
- The Price of Early Seattle’s Growing Pains
Facing a mountain of debt, unpaid warrants, and legal judgments, Seattle held a high-stakes special election in 1892 to borrow $850,000 to keep the city running.
- The Battle for the Waterfront: Seattle's 1892 Railroad Struggle
As the Northern Pacific sought to claim prime space on Railroad Avenue, the city council faced a pivotal decision: prioritize corporate rail expansion or protect the public from the dangerous, crooked 'ram's horn' tracks that choked the waterfront.
- The City’s Debt Ceiling Crisis of 1892
Facing a massive backlog of unpaid warrants and legal judgments, Seattle's city council puts a multi-million dollar bond package to a city-wide vote to stave off municipal insolvency.
- The Great Seattle Bond Rush of 1892
Facing a mountain of debt, Seattle voters were asked to decide the city's future through a flurry of bonds for sewers, water pipes, and court-mandated payouts.
- The Puyallup Land Dispute: A Forgotten Fight for City Growth
In 1892, Representative John L. Wilson proposed liquidating the Puyallup Indian Reservation to spur the growth of Tacoma, highlighting the long-standing tension between tribal sovereignty and urban expansion.
- The Horror in the Cabin: A Tacoma Tragedy
A brutal murder of a fruit dealer in his sleep reveals the violent shadow of immigrant debt and desperation in 1892 Tacoma.
- The Battle of Yesler’s Wharf
When an opposition newspaper accused Seattle’s steamboatmen of being 'bogus' voters, the local press fought back to defend the right of the working class to define the city’s political future.
- The Siege of Franklin
In a courtroom packed with spectators, a Black miner defends his decision to open fire during a violent anti-Black labor riot at the Franklin coal mines.
- Seattle Waterfront Owners Organize Against 'Ram's Horn' Right-of-Way
In 1892, Seattle property owners launched a crusade against the Northern Pacific Railroad to stop a monopolistic expansion of track rights that threatened to strangle the city's commerce.
- The Seattle Election Telegrams: When Political Operatives Ran the Show
Leaked ciphers from 1892 reveal a scheme where out-of-town 'detectives' and thugs were imported to manipulate local elections and manufacture scandals.
- The Trial That Nearly Triggered a Lynching
A Whatcom jury's acquittal of George Bwiloos for a brutal murder left the town in an uproar, sparking a desperate, failed manhunt by local citizens.
- The Trial That Stoked a Mob: The Swiloos Case
After an accused murderer was acquitted, the citizens of Whatcom waged a campaign of social ostracism against the jury, reflecting deep racial tensions and extrajudicial outrage in 1892 Washington.
- The Ghost of Ballast Island
A laborer’s body washes up on the Seattle waterfront, leaving a trail of questions about a midnight splash and a missing man with a light overcoat.
- The Ghostly Harvest of the North Pacific
A brutal accounting of how 19th-century pelagic sealers, operating out of Washington ports, pushed a species to the brink of extinction through industrial-scale slaughter.
- The Corpse in the Chicken Yard
A bungled insurance swindle in 1890s Seattle turns grisly when an amateur conspiracy, a stolen body, and a coded German letter unravel in a courtroom inquest.
- The Strange Leniency of a Supreme Court Murder Verdict
After two trials and two death sentences, the Washington State Supreme Court abruptly commuted Albert Friedrich’s murder conviction to second-degree, sparking legal confusion and outrage from the defendant himself.
- The Cabin on South Nineteenth Street
A brutal murder in Tacoma’s Italian community shocks the city, leading to a swift conviction of a man who carried holy relics to his own trial.
- The Deadly Secret of the Giant Street Bridge
A cold-blooded 1887 murder finally finds its motive in a hidden past, revealing a plot involving stolen identities, deserted wives, and a double-dating betrayal.
- Longshoremen Battle Steamship Crew Over Alien Labor
A confrontation on the waterfront erupts after a ship's captain replaces union workers with a Japanese crew, sparking a legal test case on contract labor laws.