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 |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 7 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 5 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 6 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 10 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 15 |
| 1895 | 7 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 4 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 1 |
90 stories matching shell
- The Political Shell Game
How the primary 'second choice' rule creates a system of backroom dealing and favors the 'political weakling.'
- A Mayor's Political Shell Game
Mayor Ronald's chaotic rotation of city employees is exposed as a cynical play to settle political debts and nepotism.
- The City Can Tear It Down: The Supreme Court Backs Seattle's Fire Limits
Daniel K. Baxter put up a twenty-foot shell of wooden posts wrapped in corrugated iron inside Seattle's fire limits. The state Supreme Court said the city could knock it down without ever going to court — and municipal building codes came out of it stronger than before.
- The Yakima Chicken Fancier Who Saw Forty Cents in Every Lost Chick
Leonard Schott turned a North Yakima business sideline into an incubator-fed poultry ranch, sending broilers to Spokane and diagnosing his chicks with everything from rheumatism to appendicitis.
- The 1898 Sales Pitch That Called the San Juan Islands a 'Klondike at Home'
A judge's promotional essay promised apples, prunes, sheep, fish, limestone and health in Washington's island county—and complained that the outside world had not yet noticed.
- The Unlucky Speckled Hen and the Tarring Party
In an era of domestic tension, a Washington housewife's patience for her husband's sloth and a neighbor’s story of a local scoundrel collide in a kitchen mishap.
- The Unbreakable Glass That Promised a Household Revolution
In 1877, a new chemical tempering process promised Seattle residents that lamp chimneys would never crack again—even if you drove nails with them.
- The Unexploded Bomb in the Hillside
A curious fragment of Civil War history turns up on Sixth Street, linking Seattle’s quiet streets to the violent Indian Wars of the past.
- The Butter Sculptor of Snohomish
How a farmer's wife from the Arkansas wilderness used humble tools to carve her way into the art world.
- The Fading Power of the People's Party
A skeptical report on the state convention of the Populists in Spokane, suggesting the once-mighty movement is now a mere shell.
- A Close Call on the Logging Trail
A local sportsman finds his gun jammed while a bear charges, forcing a desperate, makeshift solution.
- The Intellectual Life of Old Seattle
Before the University of Washington became a sprawling research giant, its faculty and students spent their terms reading Virgil, hosting public lectures on modern civilization, and balancing academic rigor with rowing, military drills, and long walks on the beach.
- Turning Lakes into Pearl Factories
A University of Washington professor claims the Pacific Northwest could dominate the global pearl button market by transplanting Mississippi mussels.
- Rivals Take the Water: Coast Oarsmen Gather on Lake Washington
Portland, Vancouver and Willamette crews descend on Seattle for a two-day championship — with a champion single-sculler and a grudge match on the line.
- The Price of a Pioneer Homestead in 1877
A modest real estate listing from a century-and-a-half ago highlights the stark contrast between early Seattle’s property market and today's vertical city.