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 |
|---|---|
| 1862 | 4 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 24 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1878 | 11 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 10 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 15 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 19 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 16 |
| 1892 | 42 |
| 1893 | 54 |
| 1894 | 32 |
| 1895 | 89 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 5 |
| 1900 | 4 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 29 |
| 1904 | 28 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1909 | 18 |
| 1910 | 5 |
| 1911 | 1 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 8 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1920 | 1 |
| 1923 | 3 |
| 1924 | 1 |
468 stories matching flat
- The Unluckiest Farmer on the Swinomish Flats
Samuel Calhoun had already lost a fortune in grain. Then the steamer Dispatch capsized with another $1,000 of his crop aboard.
- Tragic Drowning in the Harbor
A fisherman perishes after his overloaded, flat-bottomed boat is swamped by swells near the city docks.
- The Fire Commission Rejects a Faulty Engine
Seattle fire commissioners break ranks with the city council, condemning a new engine as cheap and unreliable.
- The Broken Promises of the Tide Flats
Tacoma business leaders turn on the Northern Pacific Railroad after years of waiting for promised infrastructure.
- The Wheat Gold Rush on Eureka Flat
With grain silos empty and demand high, local millers are bypassing the market to solicit farmers directly with cash in hand.
- The Fight for Seattle’s Tide Lands
Boosterism clashes with civic control as a proposal to alienate tide lands sparks fears of corporate monopolization.
- Seattle Wagers Half a Million on a Canal — and a Fortune on Mud
Hoping to unlock $2 million in St. Louis money, the city scrambles for a $500,000 subsidy for the Lake Washington waterway — with the dredged earth destined to turn Elliott Bay's tide flats into gold.
- A Deadly Plunge off the Grant Street Bridge
A reckless driver and his span of horses tumble into the tide flats, prompting a lawsuit against the city for its lack of safety infrastructure.
- Devastating Hailstorm Wipes Out Union Flat Crops
A severe localized hail storm destroys 200 acres of prime winter wheat, leaving a local farmer to contemplate quitting the business.
- The Exclusionary Pledge of La Conner
A frontier town in the Swinomish Flats organizes a formal, collective boycott against Chinese residents, highlighting the intense racial tensions of the 1870s Pacific Northwest.
- The Snow That Crushed a Schoolhouse Flat
A February storm buries Mason and Kitsap counties under four and a half feet of snow — flattening Seabeck's finest schoolhouse and a Lilliwaup hotel while its owner was away in Seattle.
- The Waterfront Turf War
A railroad tycoon and a dry dock company fight for control of Seattle's mud flats as the city transforms.
- The Dangerous Precedent of the 'Lowest Bidder'
The local paper critiques a political candidate for promising to run a public office on a budget that defies fiscal reality.
- Fatal Saddle Accident Claims Local Teen
A young high school student suffers fatal internal injuries after a riding accident near the Eureka Flat.
- Whitman County Farmers Declare War on Monopoly
Spring Flat settlers resolve to stop buying Northern Pacific Railroad lands at 'exorbitant' prices, challenging the company's title to the public domain.
- A Gem Rush in Whitman County
Prospectors uncover veins of onyx and fire opal near Colfax, sparking excitement about the region's hidden mineral wealth.
- The Tragedy at the Tide Flats
A missing man is found dead in the bay, ending a days-long search in the southern waterfront.
- 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.
- From Mosquito Swamp to Golden Grain: The Taming of the Swinomish Flats
How a desolate, flood-prone wilderness was transformed by sheer human persistence into one of the most productive agricultural regions in the Washington Territory.
- The Opium Ring and the Floating Body: A Seattle Murder Mystery
When Abner Abbott’s body was found in the tide flats, suspicion fell on a smuggling ring. Was he silenced for knowing too much about a $400 check from China?
- Sewage Crisis Plagues Tacoma's East Side
The filling of tide flats has caused a sewer to back up, creating a public health nightmare for hundreds of factory workers.
- The $7 Million Gamble to Dig Seattle’s Canal
St. Louis capitalists arrive with plans for the Lake Washington canal and tide-flat fill, promising a transformed city—if Seattle secures the rights-of-way.
- A Near-Fatal Industrial Accident Near Everett
A laborer survives after being crushed by railroad cars during a logging operation.
- The Agricultural Transformation of the Skagit Flats
Decades of diking and draining have turned tide lands into some of the most productive agricultural soil in the world.
- The Great Columbia Fish Rush
When an electric railway culvert at Columbia flooded the flats, local residents turned the disaster into a spontaneous community harvest of salmon and trout.