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.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 6 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1903 | 3 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
47 stories matching mood
- Smelter Boarding House Reduced to Ash After Brawl
A drunken dispute between boarders turned into an explosive inferno at the smelter district, leaving residents fleeing for their lives.
- The Territorial Militia's Role in Seattle's Anti-Chinese Riots
An editorial reflection on Governor Squire's use of armed citizen militias to enforce martial law during the 1886 expulsion of Seattle's Chinese population.
- Dance Hall Rivalry Turns Violent
Jealousy over a courtesan leads to a public shooting outside a downtown boarding house.
- The Political Machine Churns in Aberdeen
A messy local election season unfolds as factions scramble to unseat a popular marshal.
- The Ex-Congressman's Lumber Scam
How a high-stakes lobbyist used a fake canal project to strong-arm mill owners for land titles.
- The Bureaucracy of Getting Hitched
A deputy clerk at the Pierce County courthouse recounts the chaotic, comical, and bureaucratic hurdles faced by couples seeking marriage licenses.
- Vigilante Justice at the Blaine Shingle Mill
Striking workers at a troubled shingle mill take matters into their own hands after the proprietor fails to pay wages.
- Election Night at the P-I Office
A rainy evening finds the crowd gathered in front of the Post-Intelligencer, where the mood shifts from Republican jubilation to Populist silence.
- The Ghost Railroad of the White River Valley
Farmers and Seattle civic leaders gathered in a desperate bid to force the operation of a phantom rail line that was constructed but never ran.
- Council Kills Streetcar’s Yesler Avenue Extension
The lower house refuses to give the Seattle City Railway Company another year to double-track Yesler Avenue and Jackson Street, even as the aldermen approve it.
- The Dreamer of the Lodging House
A laborer arrested for a barroom scuffle wakes in jail, convinced he committed a murder he only dreamt of.
- Blood on the Card Table
A festive night at an O'Brien saloon ends in a horrific murder-suicide, leaving the community reeling and questions of old grudges swirling in the air.
- The Great Port Angeles Gold Scam
How a clever land boomer used fake gold coins to manufacture excitement and swindle investors in the late 1880s.
- 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.
- A Pullman Elopement, Interrupted by Long Distance
A young couple marries in Colfax, then calls home to ask forgiveness. The bride's mother refuses to believe it and vows never to forgive them.
- A Suicide Attempt at the Columbia House—and a Landlord's Cold Comfort
Flora Sullivan, separated from her husband, took morphine in her room at Third and Columbia. She survived, but the paper made her despair a public story.
- A Seattle Wife Sued Her Husband for Beating Her. The Court Said She Couldn't.
Judge Osborne ruled that a married woman could not maintain a damages action against her husband for assault—even after testimony of a fist to the eye and kicks with heavy boots—sending the case to the state Supreme Court.
- A Switch Thrown in the Dark: The Plot to Wreck the Portland Train
Someone opened a Northern Pacific switch on a waterfront trestle just before the night express from Seattle came through — and a quick-thinking crew stopped a hundred passengers short of the deep water.
- The Last Stake: A Gambler's Ruin at a Seattle Card Table
A cautionary tale of a high-rolling stranger, a priceless gem, and the silent, unblinking eye of the house lookout.
- A Forgery Arrest, a Suicide Attempt, and a Case Spokane Papers Got Wrong
Brad Knapp was arrested in Seattle over school warrants; days earlier his wife had shot herself, and a mistaken identity muddled the story.
- Two Plans, One Spring, and a $25,000 Holdup
Walla Walla's council will let voters choose between a $191,000 pipeline up Mill Creek and a cheaper gravity system at Thomas Springs — but the editor suspects a land speculation scheme is baked into the ballot question.
- The Last-Week Jam in Olympia: Liquor, Primaries and a Budget Nobody Counted
With the 60-day session expiring, Washington's lawmakers settle local option, rewrite the primary ballot, kill the initiative and abandon the joint budget committee — leaving taxpayers to foot a three-mill levy.