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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1872 | 3 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 14 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 6 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 4 |
| 1886 | 7 |
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| 1888 | 5 |
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| 1914 | 7 |
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295 stories matching fee
- The Price of Incompetence in Chehalis County
The local press takes the county commissioners to task for allegedly mismanaging public funds and obscuring delinquent tax revenue.
- One Judge for Two Counties: Seattle's Judge Osborn Wants the Bench Trimmed
A King County jurist tells the legislature that twenty-four superior judges for thirty-four counties is money badly spent — and that a judge handling Seattle's docket earns no more than one deciding farm boundary lines.
- The Auditor's Ledger: Efficiency and the Salary System
Chehalis County Auditor Geo. W. Boyington defends his record against the backdrop of the transition from fee-based to salaried public service.
- The Saloon Question in Olympia
Olympia's City Council moves to curb the prevalence of saloons through steep fee hikes, a move that the P-I suggests Seattle should replicate.
- The Price of a Drink in 1885 Seattle
A newly passed city ordinance lays out a complex, bureaucratic, and cash-heavy system for anyone hoping to open a saloon or bottle house.
- The Foreclosure Auction: When the Bank Takes Your Land
A Benton County sheriff prepares to sell a farmer's property at the Prosser courthouse for over $1,300 in 1914, highlighting the precarious nature of land ownership during the early days of Washington's agricultural boom.
- The Delegate Who Sold Seattle’s Future for Five Thousand Dollars
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch accuses Territorial Delegate George Freeman Willard of betraying Seattle’s interests—specifically the mud flats of Duwamish Bay—to secure his own political and financial gain, while simultaneously accepting bribes from rival railroad companies.
- The Lumber Town That Held Worker's Luggage Hostage
A Grays Harbor mill company is exposed for a predatory scheme that left hundreds of laborers stranded without their personal belongings.
- The Property Battle for Old Seattle
A lawyer and property claimant fight to secure titles to a sprawling Seattle donation land claim amidst territorial legal confusion.
- The Great Port Townsend Customs Scandal
A federal grand jury uncovers a decade-long scheme of extortion and record-tampering at the Port Townsend custom house, where officials pocketed fees and forced local shipping firms to play along.
- The Tangled Web of the Yesler Estate
A legal battle over the fortune of Henry L. Yesler spirals into a web of missing deeds, conspiracy charges, and high-stakes courtroom drama.
- The Shadowy Deal for the Yesler Will
Seattle city officials testify under oath about secret negotiations to recover the lost will of Henry Yesler through a high-stakes contingent fee.
- King County Commissioners Billed Taxpayers for 25,943 Miles—More Than the Earth's Circumference
A letter to the editor by F. F. Ames accuses the King County board of padding mileage, charging for trips to Olympia, and paying an unauthorized colleague from county funds—violating state law.
- The Parasite Trade: Fighting the Employment Sharks
A scathing report to the State Federation of Labor exposes how corrupt employment agencies trap migratory laborers in a cycle of debt and exploitation.
- A $650,000 Mortgage Put Walla Walla’s Gas, Electric, and Water Future in Philadelphia Hands
The Northwestern Gas and Electric Company mortgaged its Walla Walla County plants, franchises, and water rights to secure a major bond issue—and announced new power development on the Walla Walla River.
- The Globe-Trotter, the Elks, and the $5,000 Wager
A Boston telegram called Paul Jones a fake. Seattle's own reporting found a Harvard man circling the world on a wager — and turning a paper suit into a sellout lecture.
- The Courthouse Deal Done in the Dark
Benton County commissioners quietly sold $125,000 in bonds for a new courthouse. Farmers from Finley to Prosser cried foul over up to $40,000 in extra interest—and demanded to know why it had to be secret.
- Her Wages Bought the House at Fourth and Plum. The Sheriff’s Deed Was Canceled.
Elizabeth Burkett turned a $700 gift into a hotel and a home. When a Pierce County judgment against her husband threatened it, a Thurston County judge traced the property back to her own labor.
- A Wife's Testimony Was Enough: Supreme Court Reverses Divorce Denial
The Washington Supreme Court ruled that a wife's own account of cruelty and habitual drunkenness could justify a divorce, reversing a lower court that had dismissed Nellie Lee's case.
- Starvation Wages and a Broken Light Contract: Seattle's Lower House Erupts
Delegates demand answers on Pike Street paving, city jobs parceled out by foremen, Kilbourne Avenue subcontracting, and the gas-electric company's failure to light the city.
- The Boom is Over: Seattle’s Doctors Face Public Backlash Over 'Trust' Pricing
As the city settles into metropolitan growth, a newspaper investigation into exorbitant medical fees sparks outrage among patients and division among physicians.
- The Price of a Day's Pay: Seattle’s 1887 Labor Brokers
A deep dive into the predatory practices of late 19th-century employment agencies that thrived on the desperation of transient laborers.
- The City's Legal Battle Over the 'People's Theater'
A municipal court fight pits city lawyers against a theater owner over whether a $1,000 licensing fee and anti-women employment regulations are constitutional.
- The Right-of-Way Racket: How One Man Tried to Sell Seattle's Waterfront Twice
A legal battle in King County reveals the chaotic land grabs of early Seattle, where a single deed could claim ownership of deep-water access rights across the entire waterfront.
- Seattle's Liquor Lobby Calls for a Crackdown
Local saloon owners, tired of paying high license fees, push the Mayor to shut down unlicensed competition in pharmacies and cafes.