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 |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 4 |
| 1858 | 4 |
| 1859 | 4 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 6 |
| 1862 | 7 |
| 1863 | 7 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 49 |
| 1877 | 24 |
| 1878 | 23 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 9 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 21 |
| 1884 | 11 |
| 1885 | 37 |
| 1886 | 19 |
| 1887 | 17 |
| 1888 | 19 |
| 1889 | 72 |
| 1890 | 9 |
| 1891 | 54 |
| 1892 | 98 |
| 1893 | 110 |
| 1894 | 108 |
| 1895 | 149 |
| 1897 | 5 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 16 |
| 1902 | 3 |
| 1903 | 42 |
| 1904 | 36 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 2 |
| 1908 | 13 |
| 1909 | 45 |
| 1910 | 13 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1914 | 6 |
| 1915 | 10 |
| 1916 | 15 |
| 1917 | 9 |
| 1918 | 2 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 3 |
| 1929 | 2 |
1,113 stories matching relat
- The Secular Send-off
When a Snohomish family rejected the fire-and-brimstone dogmas of the 1880s, they hired a friend instead of a priest to speak at a funeral, sparking a radical discourse on death, reason, and kindness.
- City Hall's Nepotism Scandal
A growing city payroll sparks outrage as citizens allege councilmen are staffing city jobs with friends and relatives.
- The Meteorology of the Woods
An 1880 meteorologist argues that deforestation is responsible for the drying of rivers and the loss of rainfall, a warning from the early days of Washington Territory.
- The Fight Over Corporate Power
A proposed constitutional provision regarding stockholder liability triggers alarm among Seattle businessmen.
- When Olympia Readers Argued About Inequality and the Machine
At a Unitarian class in 1891 Olympia, seventeen adults debated Henry George, concentrated wealth, and whether machines were turning workers into automatons.
- The Social Climber and the Boarding-House Landlady
When an imposter claiming aristocratic ties tried to swindle a respectable family at a Seattle party, an uninvited cousin from Albany arrived to set the record straight.
- The Business of Mourning in the Civil War
As the casualty lists from the front lines grew, the private industry of embalming rose to meet a grim public need in Olympia and across the nation.
- The Fight for Seattle’s Rail Future
In 1878, a local leader rallied Seattle to demand federal land reform and a railroad connection, decrying the influence of corporate interests over the prosperity of the Territory.
- The Blacksmith’s Last Ride: A Tragic Accident in Touchet
Coroner rules death 'pure accident' as community mourns S.F. Olsen, a stranger who found only brief friendship before his fatal encounter with a local hack line.
- An Old Engineer's Body in the Harbor, and a Hole No One Could Explain
John Hall had run locomotives for thirty years. Too old for the road, out of work for weeks, he was found floating in Tacoma harbor with a wound the coroner called a bruise.
- The Consul’s Advice: How to Sell to China
Consul General John Goodnow advises Tacoma merchants that success in the Orient depends on cultural sensitivity and precise adherence to local conventions.
- The Scandalous Church Rivalry of 1872
A Seattle editor lashes out against a local rival, defending his character against allegations of meddling in the affairs of the Methodist Church.
- A Family Reunited by Chance
A Spokane woman, raised as an orphan in the Kennewick valley, discovers her long-lost siblings through a series of coincidences.
- Mayor Struve Disputes Plummer's Waterfront Land Claim
Mayor H. G. Struve acts against a squatter who fenced off city-claimed land on the Seattle waterfront.
- Declared Dead for Four Years, a Widower Writes Home — and Asks Only for Money
Jacob Claterbos vanished after leaving Germany for Chicago; his sold property raised his children. Now he wants cash to come home, and never asks about the children at all.
- The Midnight Musician of Second and James
A classic Seattle neighborhood dispute over a disruptive neighbor and his relentless cornet playing.
- The Doctor Who Didn't Report Scarlet Fever
A Seattle physician is hauled into court for failing to tell the health office about a sick child — a test of the city's power to track contagious disease.
- The Political Honeymoon of 1889
Four months into the Harrison administration, a Seattle editor reflects on the stability of a presidency that weathered a major international crisis in Samoa.
- The Panic Over 'Free Love' and Women's Rights in Early Seattle
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch decries the growing suffrage movement, labeling advocates as threats to the 'sanctity of the marriage relation.'
- The Impending Conflict: Labor and Capital in Snohomish
An urgent editorial from 1876 calls for the wealthy to heed the growing unrest of laboring men before the struggle turns from strikes to bloodshed.
- The Tragedy of William Owens
A vulnerable man’s lonely trek to Seattle ends not in hope, but in the county jail and the looming shadow of the state asylum.
- A Child Lost to the River
A tragic drowning accident in Melbourne claims the life of an eight-year-old boy while visiting family.
- The Workingman's Mayor: A 1892 Look at Labor Relations
As Seattle geared up for its 1892 mayoral election, political operatives and newspapers sparred over whether candidate John Leary was a true friend to the labor movement or just a businessman courting votes.
- Franklin Miners Blast Calls for a New Disaster Investigation
After 37 men died in the Franklin mine explosion, 152 miners signed resolutions defending the coroner's verdict and accusing outside agitators of exploiting their grief.
- The Legislature Votes Itself a Territorial Rifle
In a moment of classic political opportunism, the Council passes a measure granting every member a firearm at public expense.