Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 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 | 1 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1872 | 3 |
| 1876 | 21 |
| 1877 | 21 |
| 1878 | 11 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 5 |
| 1883 | 13 |
| 1884 | 7 |
| 1885 | 11 |
| 1886 | 4 |
| 1887 | 11 |
| 1888 | 9 |
| 1889 | 28 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 17 |
| 1892 | 18 |
| 1893 | 11 |
| 1894 | 25 |
| 1895 | 33 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 8 |
| 1902 | 6 |
| 1903 | 15 |
| 1904 | 21 |
| 1908 | 4 |
| 1909 | 13 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1916 | 4 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1928 | 1 |
348 stories matching sort
- The Day Smallpox Walked the Streets: How One Man’s Ignorance Sparked Spokane’s Deadliest Epidemic
A drunk man wandering through downtown Spokane with a rash on his face nearly triggered a disaster that killed hundreds—until a sharp-eyed pharmacist stepped in.
- The $12.50 Gold Rush: How a Railroad Rate War Flooded Seattle with Hope and Skepticism
As Canadian Pacific slashes fares to half the price of American lines, local merchants debate whether the coming wave of homeseekers will build the city or break it.
- The Old Man’s Last Stand: A Father’s Flight from Greedy Heirs Ends in a Sheriff’s Chase
P.V. Thorpe, an elderly pioneer fleeing false rape accusations and property theft by his son and son-in-law, was arrested for carrying a revolver in Seattle—only to be vindicated when the truth about his family’s blackmail scheme came to light.
- The Coal Creek Massacre: A Coroner’s Inquest into the Battle Between Knights of Labor and Mine Owners
In January 1890, Seattle Sheriff Cochrane deployed militia to Newcastle to suppress a miners' strike. When a riot erupted at Coal Creek, one man was killed and ten arrested. The subsequent coroner's inquest revealed a chaotic scene where union men claimed self-defense against armed mine owners, while the sheriff dismissed the Knights of Labor as 'too excitable.'
- The Rifle War: Knights of Labor vs. Mine Owners in Newcastle
A bitter feud between rival labor unions in King County erupts into armed conflict, with rifles smuggled from Seattle to support striking miners.
- The Great Tide-Land Grab
As Seattle approaches statehood, a newspaper sounds the alarm against land speculators plotting to seize the valuable tide-lands from the public.
- Bodies of Colman and Patten Recovered from Lake Washington
After weeks of searching, a homemade underwater viewing device helps recover the bodies of two men murdered on the water.
- The 'Haytian Republic' and the Chinese Exclusion Pipeline
Federal authorities in Tacoma scramble as a steamer arrives from Vancouver carrying 161 Chinese passengers in defiance of exclusionary laws.
- Two Men Asked to Test a Seattle Schooner. Then They Tried to Kill Its Captain.
A would-be buyer and his genteel companion lured Capt. Jud La Moure into Puget Sound, attacked him with a lead sounding weight, and demanded his gold watch—until he produced a hidden revolver.
- The 15,000-Word Plan to Build a Great Harbor on Seattle's Tide Flats
Virgil Bogue's report to King County proposes dredged slips, public docks, a union station and a jointly owned terminal railroad—if Seattle can sort out its tide-land titles.
- Seattle’s 1895 Co-op Where 150 Unemployed Men Ate for 7 Cents a Day
At a Belltown barracks, unemployed single men pooled their wages, submitted to military-style rules and fed an average of 150 people daily for about 7 cents each.
- High Stakes and High Caliber
A casual card game at the Northern Hotel ends in a shooting, leaving a stranger in custody and a victim fighting for his life.
- Is Tacoma’s Water Supply Making People Sick?
A reporter’s investigation reveals that farm runoff and sewage are flowing directly into the city's filtration system.
- The Sheriff’s Bold Stand Against Mob Rule
A newly minted newspaper editor-sheriff argues that local complicity, not just law enforcement failures, fuels vigilante violence in Washington.
- Arson Attempt Targets Chinese Business District
A deliberate fire set in the basement of Wah Chong's store nearly triggers a catastrophe for the city's business sector.
- The Science of 'Degeneracy' in the Courtroom
Tacoma experts describe the dubious medical pseudoscience used to argue insanity and 'degeneracy' in high-stakes murder trials.
- The Interior Secretary Came to See Whether the Puyallups Could Manage Their Own Land. He Left Surprised.
John W. Noble toured the Puyallup reservation's farms ahead of opening it to sale — and found the people he had been told could not handle their affairs running them well.
- A Dollar for Three Children: Newport Officers Rescue the Zink Children
After their mother’s death, Maggie, Ruth and Clarence Zink were found underfed and living among loggers; a Spokane children’s home and a Christmas box intervened.
- The Battle for the Seattle Waterfront
As the Washington State Constitutional Convention nears its conclusion, delegates engage in a fierce final debate over the ownership of tide lands and the rights of the state versus private corporations.
- The 50-Year Marriage That Defied Poverty: A Spokane Woman’s Quest for Work
When a rural Washington couple faced ruin from debt and injury, the wife took a train to Spokane with nothing but her satchel and a fierce determination to earn her keep.
- The Mysterious Land Grab of Enumclaw
A quiet town under the shadow of the Northern Pacific railroad suddenly erupts in land speculation, with rumors swirling that local figures are merely fronting for powerful railway interests.
- The Failed Poison Dinner of Seattle
A meticulously planned attempt at mass murder by a man named Perry Dunfield was thwarted when his intended victims missed their appointment—but the tragedy still unfolded at home.
- The Race for the Rails: Seattle’s Fight to Keep the Northern Pacific Branch
As Oregon competitors maneuver to steal federal land grants, a local correspondent warns that losing the railroad connection could leave Washington Territory behind for decades.
- The Plague at the Doorstep: Seattle’s Battle Against Smallpox in 1877
As smallpox ravages Port Orchard and Salmon Bay, the city's Health Officer takes drastic quarantine measures against Indigenous communities, highlighting the fragile public health infrastructure of early Seattle.
- The Steamboat Strike That Tied Up the Sound
Officers of the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company refuse to accept wage cuts, halting ferry service between Seattle and Tacoma in a rare display of maritime labor solidarity.