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.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 421 |
| 1889 | 1,084 |
| 1891 | 492 |
| 1892 | 2,259 |
| 1893 | 2,699 |
| 1894 | 2,015 |
| 1895 | 1,830 |
10,800 stories
- The Divorce of the 'Pretty Little Cripple'
A husband’s suit for divorce against his wife, whom he accused of erratic behavior and opium use, reveals a harrowing counter-claim of domestic abuse in 1893 Seattle.
- The Puyallup Nation Defies the Commission
Declaring they will no longer participate in negotiations, the Puyallup people reject the federal government's attempt to sell or partition their lands under the Wilson-Dawes measure.
- Corruption Allegations Rock Snohomish County
The prosecuting attorney has filed suit to remove all three county commissioners, alleging drunkenness, waste, and kickbacks from construction contracts.
- 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 Banker's Day of Reckoning in Walla Walla
A local savings bank president is charged with larceny and receives a stinging rebuke from the bench over his bond amount.
- Shingle Manufacturers Organize a Trust
1200 mill owners gather in Seattle to fix prices and stabilize the shingle market.
- The Citizenship Trap
A new voter registration law in Seattle is effectively disenfranchising naturalized citizens who cannot produce lost or destroyed immigration papers.
- The Collapse of the Merchants' National Bank
Tacoma’s banking elite face a ruinous assessment as the city’s failed financial institutions attempt to settle their debts.
- The Grading Debt That Never Was
A judge rules that Seattle property owners don't have to pay for street improvements that the city never actually finished.
- Discord Over Puyallup Tribal Land Sales
Conflicting signatures and disputed authority stir tensions among the Puyallup tribe as federal commissioners push for land sales.
- The Collapse of Tacoma's Merchants' National Bank
As the bank's receiver publishes a grim accounting of assets, depositors learn that their savings are being liquidated to cover loans made to the institution's own directors.
- Longshoremen Strike Against Wage Cuts
Striking dockworkers faced off against non-union labor hired by the Pacific Coast Steamship Company to unload cargo at drastically reduced pay.
- The Pirate of Salmon Bay
A local captain confesses to scuttling his own schooner to collect insurance money, narrowly avoiding a death sentence due to a legal technicality.
- The Tragedy of the Chico Gulch
A minor dispute over a killed pet dog escalates into a brutal, fatal shooting in the quiet community of Chico, revealing the violent tensions lurking behind rural neighborly relations.
- The Constable Who Shot an Innocent Boy
A case of mistaken identity and an assault charge reveal the chaotic nature of frontier justice in late 19th-century Washington.
- The Opium Smuggling Trap
A Seattle man accused of opium trafficking convinces a jury he was actually working as a government informant to expose a crooked customs inspector.
- The Sewer Blunder Heard 'Round Seattle
A multi-thousand dollar engineering failure exposes political cronyism and a laughable construction mistake on Front Street.
- The Final Appeals of a Condemned Man
Charles Nordstrom, facing execution for the Cedar Mountain murder, launches a last-ditch legal battle involving Swedish support and a high-stakes Supreme Court challenge.
- The bloody evidence in the Wilcox murder trial
A courtroom drama unfolds as prosecutors reveal gruesome relics while the defense challenges the integrity of the police investigation.
- The Opium Standoff at Sedro
When a customs discovery led to a tense standoff in a small town, an armed family stood their ground against federal agents.
- City Hall Sewer Scandal Claims Another Victim
A foreman is fired after refusing to yield control of a North Seattle sewer tunnel to an unqualified, politically appointed successor.
- The Deadly Spring-Gun Trap
A Whatcom man faces a murder conviction for setting a booby-trapped shotgun to defend his vacant cabin.
- The Party Says Not Guilty—and Cheers the Man It Removed
Seattle Democrats put their scandal-scarred administration on trial at Haake's Hall, buried a First Ward delegate fight, and sent David E. Durie into the mayor's race while J.M. Wolfe got the ovation.
- The Custody Battle of a 'Frisky' Mother
After a husband wins custody of his two daughters via writ, the mother seeks a rehearing, sparking a public debate over moral character and marital unhappiness.
- The High Stakes of the 1894 City Election
As Seattle prepares for a municipal election under the Australian ballot system, the city is gripped by political rallies, accusations of forgery, and debates over the future of infrastructure funding.