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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 15 |
| 1858 | 6 |
| 1859 | 9 |
| 1860 | 3 |
| 1861 | 8 |
| 1862 | 15 |
| 1863 | 9 |
| 1864 | 6 |
| 1865 | 2 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 30 |
| 1876 | 182 |
| 1877 | 166 |
| 1878 | 133 |
| 1879 | 11 |
| 1880 | 29 |
| 1882 | 30 |
| 1883 | 129 |
| 1884 | 64 |
| 1885 | 175 |
| 1886 | 92 |
| 1887 | 84 |
| 1888 | 115 |
| 1889 | 265 |
| 1890 | 56 |
| 1891 | 210 |
| 1892 | 484 |
| 1893 | 460 |
| 1894 | 338 |
| 1895 | 86 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 74 |
| 1900 | 13 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 137 |
| 1904 | 103 |
| 1905 | 8 |
| 1907 | 4 |
| 1909 | 107 |
| 1910 | 17 |
| 1911 | 12 |
| 1912 | 3 |
| 1914 | 20 |
| 1915 | 21 |
| 1916 | 51 |
| 1917 | 40 |
| 1918 | 6 |
| 1920 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 14 |
| 1924 | 12 |
| 1925 | 8 |
3,871 stories matching hous
- The Price of Admission: A 1887 Seattle Real Estate Crisis
When the city's housing shortage became so acute that a book dealer had to buy an entire printing business just to secure a roof over his head.
- The Failed Heist at Shaw’s Boarding House
An audacious attempt to rob a Tacoma mill worker's boarding house ends in a series of slapstick mishaps and a gunshot.
- The Great Statehood Gamble: How Washington Territory Bet Its Future on a Coin Flip
In February 1889, Congress passed the 'Omnibus Bill' granting statehood to four territories simultaneously. For Seattle and Tacoma, this wasn't just political news—it was a high-stakes gamble that would determine their city limits, tax structures, and place in history.
- The Chief Says the Victims Were Drunk
Two men said they were robbed and ignored by Seattle police. Chief Enright answered with a saloon-to-alley account of drink, deeds, and a woman called 'Big Six.'
- A Temperance Victory Built on Small-Town Spite
After a chaotic night session, the Anti-Saloon League's local-option bill cleared the Washington House — not on moral conviction, but on rural resentment of Seattle, Tacoma and Spokane.
- The Schoolhouse That Wasn't: Seattle’s Bureaucratic Battle Over Public Education
In 1877, a local dispute over the construction of a new school in Helltown reveals the early struggles of civic infrastructure and the tension between taxpayer demands and administrative delay.
- The Great Wenatchee Maze: Why You Can’t Find Your Own House
A scathing editorial on July 17, 1905, lambasts the city’s chaotic street naming and lack of house numbers, calling it a 'conundrum' that leaves visitors and locals equally lost.
- Winter House Fire Destroys Family Home
Community efforts save neighboring barn and garage after house fire likely caused by defective flue in White Bluffs.
- The Moss-Cloaked Giants of Bay Center
A teacher’s letter from the Pacific Northwest frontier describes a landscape of colossal trees and lush undergrowth, challenging the myth of the harsh pioneer struggle.
- Bellingham Bay Burned While Puget Sound Choked on Smoke
Forest fires from the British border to the Olympic Mountains sent a pall over Seattle, slowed steamers and trains, and destroyed homes, a bridge and a thirty-room mansion near Whatcom.
- The Dynamite of Gilman: A Murderous Grudge Ends in Lynching
In a fit of rage over a domestic dispute, Albert Schaeffer blew up his neighbor's home in Gilman, killing three people. The town’s response was swift and brutal.
- Pay for a Job That Wasn't There: Seattle's Employment-Agency Scam
A city council committee heard workers describe paying fees to G.W. Crane's employment office and arriving to find no jobs, with agents accused of splitting fees with contractors.
- The Open Secret: Seattle's Booming Gambling District
While city authorities collected monthly fines, three major gambling houses operated in plain sight on the Seattle waterfront, catering to thousands of working men and sailors.
- The Wig and the Wire: How a Tacoma Newspaper Owner Tried to Destroy a Judge
In the sensational Wickersham trial of 1889, prosecutor R.P. Radebaugh’s own past and his alleged conspiracy to frame Judge Wickersham for 'immorality' were laid bare in court.
- Bullets for a Neighbor on Vashon Island
A rancher says George Weston, his only neighbor, fired through his cabin window and later drew a bead on him from the beach. Now Ole Christofersen wants the law to bind Weston to keep the peace.
- The House That Slid Down the Hill
A ramshackle boarding house on Main Street collapses after heavy rains and poor construction send it sliding down an unstable Seattle hillside.
- The Theater That Never Rose
A legal war erupts over a prime downtown corner as competing developers and a frustrated landowner fight over a failed opera house dream.
- The Empty City: How a Housing Shortage Stalled Pullman’s Growth
In November 1888, the newspaper admits that 'there is not a vacant house, store, or room in town,' forcing potential residents to look elsewhere—a crisis of affordability and infrastructure that mirrors modern debates.
- The Sheriff’s Hammer: Snohomish’s Last Stand Against the 'Nuisance'
In March 1877, Judge J.R. Lewis and the local Grand Jury launched a coordinated assault on vice, seizing brothels and fining operators, while simultaneously exposing corruption in county bonds.
- The Judge Bans Messenger Boys from Seattle's Vice District
Declaring an end to the era of 'errand boys' carrying notes and parcels into houses of ill-repute, a local judge mandates a crackdown on child labor in the red-light district.
- The Lightning Rod Swindler Who Targeted the Courthouse
A traveling salesman tries to sell protection to a jury foreman, only to discover he’s been pitching his wares to the wrong building.
- The Gossips of Old Seattle: A Dispute Over a Deathbed
A local man defends his reputation after neighbors spread rumors regarding his care for a sick houseguest.
- The Smallpox Patients Nobody Would Haul
Three new cases at the American House left Seattle's health officer begging for a carriage while three patients sawed their way out of quarantine.
- The Neighbors Saw Him Leave at Dawn
A Seattle divorce trial turned on back-alley sightings, a borrowed key, and an aging co-respondent who came and went at all hours.
- The Labor War Over a Restaurant Window Card
A local cafe finds itself at odds with the Cooks and Waiters' Union in a dispute over unionization and laundry services.