Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 4 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 14 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
38 stories matching implement
- The Potato Patch That Fed 387 People: Seattle's Pingree Plan
In the hard year of 1895, a committee of Seattle citizens handed out seeds and tools to 141 unemployed families — and the city's charity rolls fell. The organizer wanted City Hall to run it.
- The Boomtown Hype of 1888
A real estate advertisement masquerading as news paints a picture of a city on the precipice of industrial greatness, promising that Seattle will soon become the 'Queen City of the Pacific.'
- Jailed on a Ten-Word Telegram: A New Arrival Fights an Arson Charge From Manitoba
Charles F. Ireland moved his wife and children to Puget Sound to start over. The morning after he landed, a Manitoba 'government detective' wired ten words, and he was locked up with 'convicted criminals of every hue.' He wants Seattle to hear his side.
- The Funeral Pyre of Justice: Seattle Burns Its Gambling Den
As the Territorial Grand Jury demands a sewer system and a new jail, Sheriff Cochrane immolates tons of gambling paraphernalia on a public bonfire, while Judge Burke condemns saloon keepers to revoke their licenses.
- The Day Seattle’s Subscribers Hauled Their Newspaper Office to Safety
When a fire threatened the Seattle Star building in Pioneer Square, loyal patrons didn't just call the fire department—they grabbed chains and ropes to physically tow the structure away from the flames.
- Seattle Burned the Devil's Playthings in the City Furnace
The Colored Pastime Club's cards and tables went up in smoke, reviving memories of the Budweiser raid, Sheriff Cochran's cleanup, and the 1885 Chinese riots.
- Bertha Jarvis Wants Out
A widow who remarried in Renton in 1885 asks a Seattle court for divorce and a share of the property, cataloguing years of abuse, thrown food and threats against her children.
- The Key-House Raid: Seattle Police Break Up a Gambling Club
Chief Rogers raided the Union Club in the Cobb Block, seizing 1,150 chips and 63 decks of cards—and arresting two men who each claimed to be in charge.
- A Senator Looks South and Sees Seattle's Fortune
Stephen B. Elkins tours the city, praises Puget Sound, and argues that Seattle—not the East—should supply Mexico with rails, shovels and plows.
- Two Black Men Set Out for a Kitsap Farm and Never Arrived
Charles Washington had saved to buy a ranch and marry the woman he left behind. He and friend S. W. Smith sailed from Seattle into Puget Sound—and vanished.
- They Would Rather Grow Than Beg: Seattle’s Unemployed Turned Vacant Lots Into Potato Patches
In the depression year of 1893, nearly 200 Seattle men—most with families—were given free seed, tools and borrowed city lots through the Pingree plan and the Co-operative Industrial Society.
- Seattle's 1877 Plea: Build a Wagon Road Over the Cascades Before Portland Steals the Inland Empire
With no railroad yet across the mountains, a Seattle newspaper argued the city's future depended on a wagon road to Yakima—before Portland grabbed the inland trade forever.
- Seattle’s Japanese Neighbors Answer the Call of War
In August 1894, Japanese residents packed a Jefferson Street hall to send money, flour and volunteers to the First Sino-Japanese War—while Chinese Seattleites predicted Japan’s defeat.