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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 2 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 5 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 11 |
| 1876 | 28 |
| 1877 | 30 |
| 1878 | 22 |
| 1880 | 6 |
| 1882 | 5 |
| 1883 | 35 |
| 1884 | 16 |
| 1885 | 24 |
| 1886 | 13 |
| 1887 | 13 |
| 1888 | 19 |
| 1889 | 61 |
| 1890 | 13 |
| 1891 | 55 |
| 1892 | 73 |
| 1893 | 66 |
| 1894 | 54 |
| 1895 | 79 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 15 |
| 1899 | 20 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 40 |
| 1904 | 27 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 2 |
| 1908 | 10 |
| 1909 | 71 |
| 1910 | 11 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 15 |
| 1915 | 5 |
| 1916 | 24 |
| 1917 | 11 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1923 | 7 |
| 1924 | 5 |
| 1925 | 3 |
| 1929 | 4 |
919 stories matching limit
- The Steamboat That Carried Too Many
A legal dispute over overcrowding on the Seattle-Tacoma run exposes the strict—and often ignored—limits placed on Puget Sound steam travel in 1888.
- Olympia Declares War on Loose Hogs
A newly passed town ordinance empowers the Marshall to seize and auction off any swine wandering through the streets of Olympia north of Union Street.
- The Hard-Fought Battle for the Eight-Hour Day
A landmark labor bill limiting work hours for women passes the Washington State House amidst intense opposition from industrial interests.
- After the Fire, A New Blueprint for Seattle
When the flames destroyed the commercial district, city leaders fought to enforce strict building codes to prevent a repeat of the disaster.
- The Taxation Trap: How Seattle’s Liquor Licenses Were Feeding the County, Not the City
In 1876, a territorial newspaper railed against a fiscal injustice: Seattle taxpayers were footing the bill for policing and street maintenance, while the county kept the revenue from liquor licenses sold within city limits.
- An Uninvited Mill Hand
A black bear wanders into the city limits to inspect a lumber mill, leading to a frantic encounter with local residents.
- Everett Is Born—But Its First City Limits Leave Out the Mills and Tide Flats
County commissioners granted Everett’s incorporation but drew the boundaries to exclude Lowell, the paper mill, nail works, barge works, smelter and tide flats—setting a March 29 election.
- The Rules of the Road Come to Kennewick
As automobiles begin to dominate the streets, City Hall codifies the right of way, speed limits, and the requirement for headlights and mufflers.
- The Price of Public Safety
City council debates delaying fire limits due to high brick costs.
- State Investigates Child Labor Violations in Tacoma Mills
Labor Commissioner Blackman moves to enforce the state's new age-limit law following reports of children working in local factories.
- The City Council's Permissive Grift
A frustrated fire official reveals that Seattle's fire safety ordinances are being gutted by the very council members who passed them, as they issue private permits to bypass building restrictions.
- Sudden Death at South Tacoma Station
A night operator dies while on duty as the North Coast Limited arrives.
- No Money, No Jury: Tacoma's Judge Stops Court to Prove a Point
Judge Stallcup vacated a jury order because the county had no cash to pay jurors—and his suit over Tacoma's water bonds made the bench itself the story.
- Judge Irwin Wipes Out $224,000 in County Road Bonds
Chehalis County's entire 1891 road-bond program is ruled illegal for blowing past the constitutional debt limit — and the taxpayers' paper calls it a deliverance.
- City Limits Expansion Puts Roadhouse Out of Luck
Annexation of Hunts Prairie forces the county to strip a liquor license from a popular roadhouse.
- A Spark on the Roof: Fire at Rothschild & Co. Spurs a Petition Against Fireworks
Quick action saved a downtown Port Townsend store from burning, and the close call prompted residents to demand a ban on fireworks within town limits.
- A Quiet Fourth in Yakima
City authorities ban fireworks, sending residents elsewhere to celebrate while census enumerators scramble to count the town.
- Rising from the Ashes: The Great Seattle Fire of 1888
While the downtown core smoldered, Seattle citizens gathered in the courthouse—lit by tallow dips—to demand a modern city of brick and stone, rejecting makeshift wooden shacks and dreaming of a reconstructed metropolis.
- The Policing of Lake Union’s Wild Frontiers
Early Seattleites living near Lake Union demanded a policeman to stop the frequent, dangerous gunfire by 'amateur sportsmen' near their homes.
- Newport Refuses a Firetrap Home for the Movies
A corrugated-iron picture show proposed beside the Antler Hotel is turned down inside the fire limits, while tent shows draw the council's ire.
- Ballard Votes to Pay the Piper
A special election in the young city of Ballard clears the three-fifths bar to fund debts that ran about $3,000 past the legal limit.
- The Battle Against the Fire Limits
A Seattle property owner races to build a wooden structure before new city fire regulations take hold.
- The Fight to Fireproof Downtown
A Seattle neighborhood, built entirely of wood, fears a catastrophic blaze and petitions the city for a stone mandate.
- The Bid to Harness Mount Tacoma’s Streams
A newly appointed city committee explores a proposal to pipe pure mountain water from the slopes of Mount Rainier to the city limits.
- Who Should Pay for the City's Infrastructure?
Facing a debt crisis following the Great Seattle Fire, city officials in 1891 debated whether to shift the mounting costs of sewer construction from the public treasury onto the backs of individual property owners.