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 | 2 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 28 |
| 1877 | 21 |
| 1878 | 19 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 7 |
| 1882 | 5 |
| 1883 | 23 |
| 1884 | 17 |
| 1885 | 23 |
| 1886 | 12 |
| 1887 | 16 |
| 1888 | 11 |
| 1889 | 39 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 25 |
| 1892 | 55 |
| 1893 | 53 |
| 1894 | 61 |
| 1895 | 88 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 10 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 20 |
| 1904 | 31 |
| 1905 | 3 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 8 |
| 1909 | 36 |
| 1910 | 8 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 6 |
| 1916 | 13 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1918 | 2 |
| 1922 | 2 |
| 1923 | 6 |
| 1924 | 3 |
| 1925 | 1 |
685 stories matching safe
- A Stovepipe, an Open Safe, and $1,000 Gone
Fire takes the home and office of W. D. Starbird's sawmill south of Springdale — with the safe standing open and the ledgers inside it.
- The Desert Manhunt of the Richland Safe-Crackers
After a daring nitroglycerin heist at the Richland post office, a trail of discarded gear and footprints in the sagebrush leads sheriff’s deputies to three suspects.
- The Olympia Safe Heist and the Culture of Corruption
A government agent discovered a $39,000 deficit in the Olympia sub-treasury, only for the missing funds to vanish entirely after the agent allegedly returned control to the defaulting official.
- Divers Hunting a Sunken Safe Find a Watchman in the Harbor
While searching Tacoma harbor for a Northern Pacific safe and $14,000, Seattle divers uncovered the body of William Hansen, drowned months earlier when the pump house went down in a Thanksgiving landslide.
- Kennewick Citizens Nab Depot Burglar
A quick-thinking group of Kennewick locals catches a safe-cracker in the act at the old passenger depot.
- The Sidney Post Office Heist
Burglars used black powder to blow the safe of a postmaster in a small town, wrecking the building in the process.
- The Morning Glory Fizzle
A group of Vancouver Southern sympathizers attempted to print a campaign paper in Portland, only to have their equipment and their vanity locked away in a safe they couldn't open.
- Safe Cracked in Kapowsin Timber Raid
Thieves target the North Timber company, escaping with revolvers and a steel box full of negotiable paper.
- The Great Fire’s Buried Treasure
A sewer crew working on Front Street unearths a long-lost safe, a fire-eaten relic from the ashes of Seattle’s 1889 catastrophe.
- Safe Cracked, Bloodhounds Baffled in Newport Burglary
Thieves work a safe for $100 in gold and currency, then vanish toward Halford addition despite a packed manhunt.
- The Town That Went Up in Smoke
A major fire at a general store and post office cripples a local business hub in Tonasket.
- The Boldest Holdup in Years
Five masked, armed men raided the West Hotel in Tacoma, forcing the proprietor to open the safe and escaping with $1,600 and jewelry.
- The Bold Heist at the Washington Hotel
Thieves in Seattle cracked a 500-pound safe in broad daylight after rolling it from the city's finest hotel.
- The Mysterious Vanishing of $490
A cash shipment intended for Arlington disappears from the Northern Pacific Express Company's transit pipeline, leaving staff scrambling.
- The Great Seattle Theater Con: A Swindler’s Exit
A smooth-talking promoter claiming to represent an opera company flees Seattle under the cover of night, leaving behind a baffled police guard and a nearly empty safe.
- The Failed Burglary at Probst's Saloon
A meticulous attempt to breach a saloon safe ended in frustration for thieves who spent hours boring holes into a door only to leave empty-handed.
- Diamond Heist at the Music Store
An employee is arrested in Oakland for fencing a local woman's diamond earrings stolen from a safe.
- Mill Workers Resist Bank Seizure
When bankers attempted to seize a safe from a shuttered Aberdeen mill, furious workers threatened to 'lick any man' who tried to stop the operation.
- A Dazed Traveler Found at the Depot
A woman arrives in Tacoma from the East, seemingly disoriented, and is taken into custody for her own protection.
- The Safe Combination Swindle
A merchant is arrested for grand larceny after allegedly tricking a sick man's wife into opening their safe to steal a promissory note.
- The Great Escape to Blaine
Defying a government warrant, two newspaper publishers staged a daring cross-border escape into Washington to avoid political prosecution in British Columbia.
- Cracksmen Drilled the Safe and Vanished Toward the Water
Professional burglars breached Bremerton's post office near the navy yard, hauled a 125-pound strongbox over a wire screen, and likely escaped by boat.
- The Struggle for Safe Passage on the Sound
A local captain makes the case for mandatory pilotage to prevent costly shipwrecks in the foggy straits.
- A Burglar’s Failed Heist at the Cherry Valley Hotel
A hotel proprietor used a lamp and a revolver to fend off an armed intruder who demanded the contents of his safe.
- A Crushed Finger Gave the Safecracker Away
A suspected Kent burglar was tracked to a Railroad Avenue cabin, where police found skeleton keys, drills and powder—then identified him by the crushed finger described in an old escape notice.