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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 98 |
| 1883 | 511 |
| 1884 | 326 |
| 1885 | 566 |
| 1886 | 361 |
| 1887 | 327 |
2,189 stories
- City Hall's Construction Contractor Fails to Pay Up
Creditors are circling the new city building on Third Street as liens are filed against the project.
- The Struggle to Open Snoqualmie Pass
A pioneer successfully demonstrates the feasibility of winter transit, igniting hope for a direct route between Eastern and Western Washington.
- Tragedy at the Stringham Place
A falling cedar tree claims the life of a shoemaker on a homestead between Seattle and Lake Washington.
- The Landlord Who Stole the Doors
A landlord attempts to evict an 'unwelcome tenant' by physically removing the doors and windows from the residence.
- Seattle Demands the Northern Pacific Railroad Forfeit Unearned Lands
Local editors take their representative to task, accusing him of prioritizing the interests of a railroad monopoly over the citizens of the territory.
- Addressing the Standing Menace on Washington Street
Seattle City Council contracts for new sewer lines to drain the low-lying lots that have long threatened the city's health.
- A Convict’s Homecoming
A former prisoner returns to Seattle, reflecting on life at the Territorial Penitentiary and the realities of incarceration.
- Clara Colby Urges Seattle to Support Woman Suffrage
A visiting suffrage advocate inspires a local crowd, framing the political franchise as a tool for household and civic management.
- The Railroad 'Boom' That Never Arrived
A scathing editorial accuses the Northern Pacific Railroad of building phantom infrastructure to avoid government forfeiture of their land grants.
- Seattle's $160,000 Gamble on a Railroad
Citizens paid Mr. Villard's corporations to push a line into the Cedar and Green River coal and timber country—and Walla Walla was warned not to be left behind.
- The Ghost in the Slough
The body of an unidentified Chinese man was discovered near Pioneer in a disturbing scene, underscoring the climate of violence against immigrants in the region.
- The Sunday Saloon Scramble
A Seattle judge faces a conundrum from a frustrated Grand Jury: if a hotel or drug store is allowed to stay open on Sunday, exactly who gets to drink?
- The Unseen War for the Puget Sound Pantry
An 1882 look at how San Francisco's economic grip and 'unfriendly agencies' were stifling the potential of Washington Territory's fishing industry.
- A Ghastly Discovery at Marshall's Wharf
A missing sailor's body is pulled from the Seattle waterfront after a mysterious disappearance.
- The City's Private Water Pioneer
Before the city operated its own utility, one visionary resident sank a deep well on Ninth Street, betting his own fortune that he could out-pump the ground itself to supply a growing Seattle.
- The Great Mountain Trek for False Promises
Chasing the myth of high wages over the Snoqualmie Pass, one woodman discovers that even in the 1880s, 'labor shortages' were often just a cover for low-balling workers.
- The Pioneer Priest Who Cleared the Forest for a Church
In 1883, Father Frefontaine laid the cornerstone of a grand new cathedral in Seattle, reflecting on a journey that began with clearing dense timber by hand to serve a tiny, fractured congregation.
- Gunfire at the University of Washington
Tensions boil over into an armed confrontation between students and faculty, leaving a student wounded.
- The Great Seattle-Portland Population War
In 1882, Seattle editors launched a sharp, statistical campaign to prove their city was growing faster than its southern rival.
- The Seattle Real Estate Boom of 1882
A survey of rapid land value appreciation in early Seattle, where modest lots doubled or tripled in price in just a few weeks.
- The Fire That Saved Us: A Call for a Second Steamer
A Seattle resident writes to the Post-Intelligencer arguing that the recent downtown blaze proves the city’s single fire engine is no longer enough—and demands an immediate duplicate.
- The Girl Who Ran Away: A Seattle Hotel Trap and a Lawyer’s Complicity
In May 1882, a 16-year-old runaway from the Puyallup River found herself stranded in Seattle, only to be exploited by a local attorney who deposited her stolen savings in his own name. Chief of Police Woolery intervened, recovering the funds and exposing the legal professional’s unethical conduct.
- The Unpredictable Life of Seattle’s 'Odd Job Man'
William D. Southworth, a local eccentric, attempted to organize a national guard, impersonated high-society figures, and left a trail of bafflement across 1880s Seattle before his final confinement.
- The Seattle Dry Goods War: A 19th-Century Boycott
When local merchants began using circulars to undercut their competition and 'boycott' a local newspaper, the P-I fought back by calling on the moral, law-abiding citizens of Seattle to take a stand.
- The Imperial Ambition: Seattle’s Role in a Nicaragua Canal Scheme
Military and political elites weigh the costs and grand strategies of controlling a trans-oceanic canal as the United States shifts toward a global power posture.