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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1889 | 57 |
57 stories
- The Looming Battle for Puget Sound's Shoreline
As Washington prepares for statehood, a contentious legal struggle over the future of tide lands begins to take shape.
- The Inexhaustible Forests Are Running Out
A look at the rapid expansion of logging in the Puget Sound region, where the arrival of railroads and new machinery is accelerating the harvest of timber once thought to be endless.
- Who Owns the Waterfront?
A government land office ruling denies the use of Valentine scrip on Tacoma's harbor front, setting a major precedent for municipal control.
- The Logger Who Wrestled a Bear
A local timber worker narrowly escapes death after stumbling into a den and fighting a brown bear for fifteen minutes with an axe.
- The Town Council's Bridge Feud
A bitter public dispute erupts over a $500 council appropriation for a bridge project on Shelton’s First Street.
- The Great Rail Boom Hits Shelton
A multi-million dollar railroad expansion promises to connect Shelton to the Puget Sound and beyond, sparking a frenzy of speculation.
- Shelton’s Crumbling Infrastructure Battle
Citizens are left to 'go to thunder' after the City Board funnels the town's remaining street funds into a bridge project that disproportionately benefits the members themselves.
- A Logging Camp's Fifteen Minutes of Fame
The local press calls out a national magazine's exaggerated depiction of Shelton's timber industry.
- The Day the Sow Ate the News
A small-town editor explains why his paper missed a week: a red sow, a keg of ink, and a very narrow escape.
- An Electrifying Encounter at the Drug Store
A Seattlite's bonnet catches fire, leading to a rather unconventional rescue by an observant clerk.
- The True Cost of a Found Five-Dollar Gold Piece
A local man's sudden windfall leads to a cautionary tale of impulsive spending that quickly outstripped his luck.
- The Grass Isn't Always Greener in Indiana
A young couple leaves Shelton for the Midwest, only to find themselves struggling and desperate to return to Washington.
- The Iron Giant Comes West
A record-breaking, twenty-eight car trainload of farm machinery marks the rapid industrialization of the Oregon frontier.
- The Fugitive and the Colonel
A Seattle man living under an assumed name in Vancouver attempts to negotiate his return home after alleged felonies.
- The Great Shelton General Store Heist
Nine hundred dollars in goods vanishes overnight from a new store, leaving local law enforcement with no leads.
- Why Olympia Should Be the Capital
A robust argument for keeping the state capital in Olympia, citing its climate, central location, and superior hotel infrastructure.
- Butcher Skips Town Leaving Debts Behind
A local butcher flees Shelton, triggering a scramble among creditors for his remaining cattle and assets.
- Major Store and Rail Office Destroyed by Fire at Kamilchie
A blaze in a frame building swept away a general store and the local railroad company office, resulting in a significant financial loss.
- The Tenderfoot Lumbermen and the 340-Foot Giant
When two skeptical Wisconsin mill men visited the Pacific coast, they tried to school the locals on timber estimating—only to be humbled by the sheer scale of Washington's old-growth forest.
- A Local Woman's Wit on the Suffrage Debate
A satirical letter to the editor uses the 'woman question' and local chores to expose the absurdity of the disenfranchisement of women.
- The Passing of a Skokomish Valley Pioneer
Emily Purdy, who survived the Indian War of 1855, has passed away at 44 after thirty years of frontier life.
- The Housing Squeeze of 1889
With not a single vacant house in town, developer W.H. Kneeland is rushing to build four new double tenements.
- The Disappearing Jeweler of Shelton
A local partnership ends in a hurried exit, leaving a business partner high and dry and a town searching for a fugitive.
- The Battle for Shelton's Mail
Shelton residents find themselves isolated as a local shipping sub-contractor abandons the mail route, leaving the town disconnected from Olympia.
- The City of Shelton Takes to the Bay
A new vessel joins the fleet, promising daily trips between Tacoma and the booming town of Shelton.