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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 20 |
| 1877 | 26 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 12 |
| 1886 | 5 |
| 1887 | 8 |
| 1888 | 10 |
| 1889 | 25 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 10 |
| 1892 | 24 |
| 1893 | 14 |
| 1894 | 17 |
| 1895 | 25 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 5 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1904 | 7 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 12 |
| 1910 | 5 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 8 |
| 1924 | 2 |
277 stories matching cheap
- University of Washington Students Revolt Against Campus Dining
A campus protest erupts as students challenge a restrictive new meal mandate and the poor quality of food provided by the university's janitor's wife.
- The Great Seattle Straw Hat Swindle
A smooth-talking grifter fleeced the crowds of Seattle by promising cheap hats, only to leave them holding handfuls of worthless paper.
- The War on 'Fly-by-Night' Newspapers
A new legislative bill aims to stop cheap, unread newspapers from monopolizing municipal advertising contracts.
- The Case Against the Contractor
A labor editorial argues that public works projects should be managed by the city directly, not by private contractors who cut corners and inflate costs.
- Everett Unions Push for National Immigration Restrictions
Following the Everett Trades Council's lead, Boston labor unions adopt resolutions calling for the restriction of immigrant labor to protect domestic wages.
- Brick by Brick: Seattle Paves Pike Street
Four contractors bid to lay a brick surface from Front to Seventh, with the contract to be let this morning and the work rushed through before the rains — while labor can still be had cheap.
- The Home Market Fight: Farmers Say Seattle Merchants Look Past Their Own Fields
A Port Angeles farmer’s letter to the Post-Intelligencer argues that Seattle merchants undercut local growers by buying from California, Oregon, and Chinese gardeners—and warns that the city’s food economy is bleeding money out of Washington.
- The Widow’s Silverware Swindle
A 'weeping widow' targets charitable Seattleites with a high-pressure sales scheme for cheap knives.
- A Chicago Syndicate Wants a Refrigerator-Car Factory — and It Wants the Land for Free
A Chicago car builder tours Tacoma and Seattle touting a plant that could turn out up to sixty refrigerator cars a day, weighing Puget Sound lumber against Eastern iron — and letting it be known the syndicate is open to "propositions for donated sites."
- The High Price of the Cedar Harvest
An 1876 editorial from Seattle critiques the 'disproportionately large pay' of loggers, blaming high wages for the financial instability of the industry.
- The Salmon War: A 19th-Century Plea for Equitable Fishing
A sea captain argues that restrictive fishing regulations are designed to benefit luxury fur traders at the expense of the working class’s food supply.
- The Printer’s Panic: Will the Type-Setting Machine Steal Your Job?
A local compositor argues that fears of automation are overblown, predicting a future where machines assist rather than replace skilled labor in Seattle's printing industry.
- The 'Veneer and Sham' of 19th Century Schooling
A historic critique of a curriculum overstuffed with 'smatterings' and fancy subjects, arguing that public schools were failing to provide the basic, useful education required for life.
- The Torchlight Mob at Frye's Opera House
In 1885, Seattle laborers and anti-Chinese activists gathered for a massive, torch-lit demonstration to demand the removal of the city's Chinese population, marking a dark chapter of exclusionary labor violence in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Shadow of the Anti-Chinese Expulsions in Squak Valley
Court testimony reveals a night of armed intimidation and a lethal 'misunderstanding' at a hop farm in 1885.
- The Fallout of the Anti-Chinese Expulsions
A witness recounts the inhumane treatment of Chinese merchants who were brought back to Tacoma to testify after being violently displaced.
- Tragedy at the Occidental Hotel
A pre-dawn fire at a downtown boarding house kills a resident and leaves others fighting for their lives in the smoke.
- The Hidden Cruelty of Early Seattle
A visit to a Chinatown tenement reveals a harrowing reality of human suffering, sparking a volatile debate over labor, poverty, and local morality.
- Seattle Was Selling Itself by the Lot
A correspondent finds a city crowded with renters, hotels turning travelers away, and speculative prices for even a Fifth Street mud puddle.
- The $12.50 Gold Rush: How a Railroad Rate War Flooded Seattle with Hope and Skepticism
As Canadian Pacific slashes fares to half the price of American lines, local merchants debate whether the coming wave of homeseekers will build the city or break it.
- The Unsolved Murder of John Smith
A Scottish laborer is found beaten to death on the roadside, his pockets empty and his identity a mystery to the local coroner’s jury.
- Midnight Fire Claims Lives of Two Children
An Elliott block blaze in the hollow leaves three families destitute and ends in tragedy for the Tanner boys.
- City Council Caught in Costly Pipe Scandal
Seattle’s city fathers accused of wasting thousands of dollars by rejecting cheap, high-quality pipe in favor of a politically connected supplier.
- The Collapse of a Real Estate Empire
After years of boom-time speculation, a prominent firm collapses under the weight of unpaid mortgages and political fallout.
- The Mayor Fires Two Police Commissioners to Keep Blackchapel Shut
In a single day, Mayor Phelps removed two police commissioners, accused them of conspiring to protect a red-light district and oust Chief Rogers, and installed replacements before the House of Delegates could slow him down.