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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1871 | 8 |
| 1872 | 110 |
| 1876 | 536 |
| 1877 | 378 |
| 1878 | 279 |
| 1879 | 15 |
| 1880 | 134 |
| 1882 | 98 |
| 1883 | 511 |
| 1884 | 326 |
| 1885 | 566 |
| 1886 | 361 |
| 1887 | 327 |
| 1888 | 314 |
| 1889 | 800 |
| 1890 | 11 |
| 1891 | 340 |
| 1892 | 1,332 |
| 1893 | 1,606 |
| 1894 | 1,246 |
| 1895 | 1,087 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 9 |
| 1898 | 21 |
| 1899 | 366 |
| 1900 | 6 |
| 1902 | 6 |
| 1903 | 153 |
| 1904 | 71 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 76 |
| 1910 | 26 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 5 |
| 1915 | 5 |
| 1916 | 28 |
| 1917 | 10 |
| 1923 | 9 |
| 1924 | 12 |
| 1925 | 3 |
| 1928 | 14 |
| 1929 | 17 |
11,240 stories
- The Great 'Puget City' Real Estate Scam
Promoters are peddling worthless 'paper towns' to investors by falsely claiming the Northern Pacific Railroad will build its western terminus there.
- The Deadly Prescription of Clifton House
A physician’s sinister plot to poison his young wife for her inheritance ends in a gruesome, ironic justice on the frontier.
- The Shadow of the Gallows in Early Seattle
A crowded courtroom watches as a man is sentenced to hang for a murder on San Juan Island, marking a grim moment in the early administration of justice in Washington Territory.
- The Property Battle for Old Seattle
A lawyer and property claimant fight to secure titles to a sprawling Seattle donation land claim amidst territorial legal confusion.
- The Citizens' Revolt Against the 'Official Ring'
When an informal mass meeting in 1872 Seattle bypassed party conventions to nominate their own candidates, the local press didn't just report it—they waged a war against the city's political machine.
- The Ring of Corruption: How King County’s Auditor Hid the Books
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch exposes Gardner Kellogg for refusing to explain thousands of dollars in missing county funds, accusing him of treating public office as private property.
- The Tax Collector’s Secret: How Seattle Officials Hid Debts to Profit from Advertising
A local newspaper exposes a scheme where the School District collector withheld tax information, forcing taxpayers to pay exorbitant advertising fees to clear liens they didn't know existed.
- The Janitor Who Was a Cop: How One Man’s Brutal Discipline Was Legalized by Law
In a landmark ruling for school safety and corporal punishment, a Seattle janitor is acquitted of child abuse charges after proving he was sworn in as a special police officer.
- The Council’s Hammer: Snoqualmie Falls Power Company Faces Ouster
Seattle city councilors move to annul the electrical franchise of the Snoqualmie Falls Power Company, citing failure to appear before an investigation committee regarding the Tracy Rapids injunction suit.
- The Opium Conspiracy: How Seattle’s Customs Chief Played Both Sides
A dramatic trial reveals a scheme where federal inspectors smuggled contraband across the border while pretending to seize it, exposing deep corruption in early 20th-century Pacific Northwest law enforcement.
- The Horse That Stopped a City: How an Epidemic Ground Seattle to a Halt
In October 1872, a mysterious disease swept through the Pacific Northwest, paralyzing streetcars and commerce. As merchants turned to oxen and hand carts, the Territory of Washington faced its first major public health crisis.
- The Last Pioneer: Seattle’s Oldest Woman Faces the Poorhouse
Mrs. P.D. Maynard, a widow of the city's founding era, has been evicted from her rooming house and is now wandering the streets at age 73. With no family and dwindling resources, the community must decide whether to let one of Seattle’s earliest residents die in poverty or build her a home.
- The Forty-Year Stranglehold: Seattle’s Streetcar Franchise Fight
As promoters push for a massive consolidation of the city's transit lines under a 40-year franchise, local editors warn that handing over public infrastructure to private syndicates is a dangerous gamble for a rapidly growing metropolis.
- The Shingle Men’s Strike: How Local Manufacturers Tried to Crush a Union Before It Began
In May 1898, Seattle’s shingle mill owners gathered in the Chamber of Commerce to unanimously vote for a two-week shutdown and set fixed prices, effectively declaring war on labor organization.
- The Great Seattle Streetcar Franchise Fight: Why Short Leases Save the City
As city councilors debate a controversial 40-year lease for street railway operations, The Seattle Star argues that short-term concessions are the only way to prevent corporate greed from strangling public transit.
- The City That Forgot How to Ride: Seattle’s Battle for Short-Term Streetcar Franchises
In May 1899, the Seattle Star warned that granting long-term monopolies to street railway companies would leave the city trapped with obsolete technology and inflated prices. The paper argued fiercely for short-term grants to keep corporations accountable—a debate that echoes in today’s transit infrastructure battles.
- Seattle Citizens Plot to Block Monopoly: Injunction Threatened Over 40-Year Streetcar Franchise
A coalition of concerned citizens is mobilizing against the city council's potential grant of a forty-year monopoly to the Seattle Railway Company, warning that legal action will follow if the charter is violated.
- The Franchise Fight: Seattle’s Battle for Control of the Streets
As the Corporation Committee prepares to report on the street railway franchise, a fierce debate erupts over whether the city should sell its public assets to private developers for 40 years or keep them in public hands.
- The Armory Uprising: Seattle’s Battle for Public Transit
As the City Council prepares to vote on a controversial 40-year franchise for private street railways, citizens are mobilizing for a mass meeting at the Armory, demanding municipal ownership over corporate profit.
- The City’s Wallet vs. The Streetcar Barons: Seattle Votes on Who Owns the Rails
As fares rise and corporate power grows, Seattle councilmen debate a radical idea: municipal ownership of street railways to save taxpayers millions.
- The People’s Franchise: Seattle Rises Against the Streetcar Monopoly
In June 1899, hundreds of citizens packed Armory Hall to declare 'No More Franchises,' demanding that the city council stop selling off public rights-of-way to private railway companies without voter approval.
- The Tin Trust Betrayal: 2,000 Workers Left in the Dark
As Seattle celebrates commencement week and the Spanish-American War heats up, a massive industrial shutdown in nearby Duwamish leaves thousands of families without income.
- The People’s Franchise: Seattle Votes Down Municipal Ownership of Streetcars
In a pivotal moment for the city's infrastructure, voters reject the Navin resolution to take control of street railways, cementing private corporate dominance over public transit.
- The Eight-Hour War: Seattle’s Labor Law Hits a Legal Wall
As the state’s landmark eight-hour workday law takes effect, prosecutors and judges clash over whether it applies to private contractors like the Pacific Bridge Company, leaving workers in limbo.
- The Match King’s Monopoly: How Edwin Gould Bought Seattle’s Competition
A look at the massive consolidation of the American match industry by J.P. Morgan’s ally, Edwin Gould, and what it means for local manufacturers.
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