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1. Quarantine Measures Challenged by Public Apathy

   With schools closed to stop a measles outbreak, health authorities struggle to enforce social distancing during a local epidemic.

   Jan 25, 1917The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyCity Hall

2. A Neighborhood 'Joke' Ends in the Patrol Wagon

   A local grocer is held at gunpoint on Rollin Street, only to discover the masked highwaymen are school-aged boys.

   Mar 17, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerRollin Street, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

3. The Girls Locked in the Walla Walla Jail

   Two young women who went missing were briefly detained by police, much to their dismay.

   Oct 28, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyStrange But True

4. The Solar Plexus Surprise

   A local storekeeper's attempt to act tough with a schoolgirl ends in a swift, painful lesson.

   Jun 8, 1916The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyStrange But True

5. Tragedy at the Natatorium pool

   A star pitcher for the Spokane baseball team collapses and dies after a swim, cutting short a career that saw 21 wins in a single season.

   Jul 22, 1903The Evening StatesmanSpokane, Spokane CountyNightlife

6. The Excursion Party's Cold Shoulder

   A visiting elite excursion party bypassed Seattle after hearing the city lacked a 'commensurate' hotel.

   Jul 1, 1884Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerElliott Bay, Seattle, King CountyBoom & Bust

7. The Night the Billings Hall Boys Stacked a Professor’s Room

   A dorm prank at Whitman College turned into a discipline case after beds were overturned, lights broken, and a bureau jammed against the door.

   Dec 2, 1903The Evening StatesmanWalla Walla, Walla Walla CountyStrange But True

8. The Case of the Missing Pocket Watch

   A Tacoma family's frantic search for a stolen heirloom ends when a toddler is found with the culprit in his overalls.

   Jun 23, 1904The Tacoma TimesTacoma, Pierce CountyStrange But True

9. The Lonely Life of the Seattle Bachelor

   A local writer laments the lack of respectable social outlets for unmarried men, arguing that the city’s saloons and variety shows offer nothing but 'hardening influences.'

   Mar 20, 1887Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSecond Street, Seattle, King CountyNightlife

10. The Great 'Chicken Hunt' Hoax Exposed

    A reported runaway incident during a chicken hunt near Eureka Flat turned out to be a manufactured prank on a local reporter.

    Aug 21, 1903The Evening StatesmanEureka Flat, Walla Walla, Walla Walla CountyTrue Crime

11. Seattle's Hidden Leather Industry

    A local company makes big moves in the hide and leather trade, aiming for national reach.

    Oct 13, 1886Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King County

12. The War of the Everett Editors

    An arrest for criminal libel turns into a public spectacle as two rival newspaper editors battle over a municipal bridge contract.

    Nov 14, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerEverett Avenue, Everett, Snohomish CountyCity Hall

13. The Clergyman's Dilemma

    Two officiants arrived to marry a couple; the governor yielded to 'give tone,' and the clergyman wed them.

    Jul 7, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyStrange But True

14. The Judge Who Was Only 'Sober as a Judge'

    A legendary anecdote from the Seattle police court where a witness’s inadvertent insult revealed the bench's own notorious reputation for intoxication.

    Apr 13, 1882Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Local Legends

15. The Snohomish Afterlife: A Spiritualist Joke

    In an 1878 newspaper, a medium's séance takes a darkly humorous turn when a grieving widow asks her late husband if he is in heaven.

    May 1, 1878The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyStrange But True

16. The Teenager Who Stole a Shotgun for a Souvenir

    A local rancher tracked his stolen firearm all the way to Ephrata after a brazen daytime theft from his cabin.

    Apr 27, 1917White Bluffs SpokesmanProsser, Benton CountyTrue Crime

17. The Great Cat Deception

    A lonely Seattle resident is duped by his friends into believing a stray kitten arrived by express from Massachusetts.

    Oct 26, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColumbia Street, Seattle, King CountyStrange But True

18. A Dangerous New Year's Prank

    Drunken revelers lure firefighters to a ghost blaze, nearly wrecking the department's equipment in the chaos.

    Jan 1, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyNightlife

19. The Clerk Who Kept Her Marriage a Secret

    A county auditor's office employee pulls off a stealthy holiday elopement, returning to her desk as a married woman without tipping off her colleagues.

    Jan 21, 1892The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyScandal

20. Kennewick Celebrates its First 'Wormless' Corn Crop

    Local farmers are puzzled and pleased as the 1915 sweet corn crop arrives remarkably free of worm damage.

    Aug 12, 1915The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyStrange But True

21. The Kangaroo Court’s Cruel Joke

    J.J. Sander, acquitted by insanity, was mocked by jailhouse 'kangaroo court' with forged love letters.

    Dec 20, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerKing County Jail, SeattleScandal

22. The Ballard Ghost Case

    A morbid prank involving a 'dummy corpse' in Ballard sends the local coroner on a wild goose chase, leaving the town laughing at his indignation.

    Sep 24, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerMeadow Point, Seattle, King CountyTrue Crime

23. The Great Tidal Wave Prank of 1893

    A fake official weather warning triggers panic and sends nervous citizens scurrying to the hills of Aberdeen.

    Sep 14, 1893Aberdeen HeraldHoquiam, Grays Harbor CountyTrue Crime

24. The Prank Gone Wrong

    A festive church fair collection turns into a masked highway robbery—or does it?

    Dec 22, 1892Aberdeen HeraldWishkah Street, Aberdeen, Grays Harbor CountyStrange But True

25. The Jailer’s Mysterious Absence

    A police inquiry into the escape of a prisoner who slipped away while his guard was supposedly busy with locksmiths.

    Feb 4, 1891The Seattle Post-IntelligencerCity Hall, Seattle, King CountyCity Hall · True Crime

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