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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 799 |
| 1884 | 455 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
3,198 stories
- The Hatchet in the Room
A New Year's night assault at a Seattle boarding house leads to a suspicious man, a bloodied hat, and a neighborhood hunt.
- The Old Union Flag
A group of Seattle schoolboys preparing for a dance discovered a historic, weather-beaten Union flag—triggering a local effort to preserve the banner that once flew over the Civil War-era Union League.
- The Lonely Traveler’s Fear of the 'Conspiracy'
A Welsh immigrant's cross-state journey ends in the Seattle jail, fueled by his desperate pleas for protection from imagined pursuers.
- The Perilous Depths of the Newcastle Mine
A rare eyewitness account from 1,000 feet below the earth, where miners fight 'black damp' and underground fires to power a growing Seattle.
- The Wharf War on Taylor Street
A legal tug-of-war breaks out as the Union Wharf Company tries to block the Hastings family from accessing the waterfront, setting a precedent for public street rights in early Seattle.
- The Boycott Handbills
After anonymous anti-Chinese handbills appear in Seattle, local laborers write to the Post-Intelligencer to clarify their role—and distance themselves from the movement.
- The Rush for the Big Bend
A new gold and grain boom on the Columbia River, driven by railroad expansion, promises to transform the Washington Territory.
- A Runaway Team Causes Panic on Front Street
A teamster's attempt to stop his runaway horses results in a dangerous, public struggle near the Occidental Hotel.
- A Fiery Protest Over Local Schooling
A schoolhouse in Lakenew was destroyed by an act of suspected arson, following heated community disputes over moving the building into town.
- The Forgotten Settlers of Gray's River
Homesteaders who bought land from the Northern Pacific Railroad face eviction after the government declares the company's title invalid.
- The High-Stakes Duel on Jackson Street
Two prominent Seattle businessmen settled a long-standing rivalry with an elaborate, heavily trained, and well-wagered foot race across a city bridge.
- The Great Tacoma Chicken Heist
A witness in the theft trial of a local gang describes how hundreds of chickens were lured and captured under the cover of darkness.
- The Steamship Race of the Century on Puget Sound
A high-speed duel between two rival steamboats turns into a thirteen-mile grudge match across the Sound.
- The Pirates of the Pacific: When Salvage Means Plunder
A biting critique from 1886 argues that maritime 'salvage' laws in the Pacific Northwest have transformed honest sailors into modern-day pirates who hold ships hostage for ransom.
- The 'Seattle Idea': A Warning Against Corporate Territorial Grabs
In an 1885 editorial, local papers sounded the alarm over the Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad Company’s attempt to claim vast swaths of Seattle’s waterfront and tide lands.
- The Great Smuggled Salmon Caper
When federal agents boarded the steamer Idaho, they didn't just find barrels of fish—they found a desperate, high-stakes attempt to smuggle opium into the Pacific Northwest.
- The Scandal of the 'Assignation House' on Front Street
A public, anonymous accusation of moral impropriety sparks a newspaper rebuttal and a demand for civic dignity in early Seattle.
- The Mysterious Poisoning at the Fountain
A peculiar outbreak of illness in Seattle leaves townspeople baffled after drinking from a public water source.
- The Great Escape at Steilacoom
Five convicts at the state penitentiary staged a daring, daylight breakout, leading to a desperate shootout in the woods.
- The Fracturing of Seattle’s Labor Movement
As industrial tensions simmered in 1886, a local newspaper editorial condemned the radicalization of the Knights of Labor, contrasting them with the more moderate national leadership of Terence V. Powderly.
- The Price of Keeping the Peace
After anti-Chinese riots rocked Seattle in 1886, the city found itself with a massive bill for martial law and the cost of keeping the peace.
- A Father’s Cruel Abandonment
A Seattle physician leaves his children in the care of a stranger and vanishes without payment or provision, exposing the vulnerability of local families to predatory abandonment.
- The Ghost of a Bullet
A Civil War veteran finds a long-forgotten piece of shrapnel finally working its way out of his body twenty years after the battle.
- Mrs. Dine, Aging Teacher, Needs Community Support
An aging Seattle resident, who once helped build the foundations of the city, now struggles in penury—prompting a call for civic support.
- The Great Liquor Debate of 1886
As Seattle teetered on the edge of a new era, citizens prepared for a pivotal June vote to determine the future of the local liquor trade.