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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 98 |
| 1883 | 511 |
| 1884 | 326 |
| 1885 | 566 |
| 1886 | 361 |
| 1887 | 327 |
2,189 stories
- The Banker’s Debt
A wealthy philanthropist discovers that his own neglect of small bills drove a local shoemaker to attempt suicide.
- A Desperate Escape in a Seattle Alley
A horse plunges into a dangerously narrow gap between buildings on Second Street, leaving the animal trapped and onlookers scrambling.
- The Forgotten Strike of 1886
As rail workers faced off against the Missouri Pacific Railroad, a local businessman found himself in the crosshairs of a community boycott for his role in the labor dispute.
- Commuter Outrage on the Sound Shore Line
Drastic schedule changes cause massive drop in ridership as commuters are forced to wait hours for trains.
- The Great Seattle Police Reduction Debate
City officials and taxpayers clash over whether the Seattle police force should be downsized despite rising city tensions.
- The Clue in the Rubber Boots
A fire in a barn on White River leads to an arrest after a trail of distinct boot prints is discovered.
- The War Over the Wires
A newspaper editor battles the Western Union monopoly over telegraph rates and news distribution.
- A Steamboat Showdown on the Sound
When two rival steamers raced from Tacoma to Seattle, the smaller vessel left its larger competitor in its wake.
- The Price of Heat: Challenging the Seattle Coal Monopoly
An editorial analysis exposes how a concentration of control in the coal industry is gouging Seattle residents while stifling competition.
- The Seattle Judge Who Stood Up to 'Professional' Idlers
When a woman shot her abusive husband in 1886, a Seattle judge refused to convict her, explicitly calling out a class of men who lived off the earnings of their wives' shame.
- A Romantic Tragedy at the Ravenna Ravine
A couple from Illinois, caught in a horse-drawn carriage accident, met a fatal end in Seattle's wilder outskirts.
- The Gloves Scandal of Front Street
A bitter public dispute erupts in 1886 Seattle between dry goods merchants over the authenticity of French-imported kid gloves.
- The Unpaid Labor of Seattle's Waterfront
Court dockets reveal that a local businessman, M. McMillan, has been leaving his laborers unpaid for weeks of work on the Seattle waterfront, triggering a series of small claims.
- The Opium Thief of Port Townsend
A worker entrusted with thousands in opium decides to sell the cargo and flee, setting off a frantic, brief escape that ends in a Seattle jail cell.
- The Seattle Panic of 1888
A grand jury report warns of a secret 'International Workmen’s Association' conspiracy to seize Seattle's property and industry.
- The Price of Education in Early Seattle
A concerned citizen calls out the School Board for slashing teacher wages to settle district debts, highlighting a lopsided austerity that spared no professional pocketbook.
- The Living Burial: A Near-Tragedy in Seattle
A young man, declared dead from fever, was found alive inside his coffin when family members prepared to move his remains to the cemetery.
- The Great Seattle Retail War of 1886
As Seattle merchants faced an economic downturn, a fierce 'price war' erupted between downtown clothiers, with competing shops slashing prices and using aggressive marketing to survive the season.
- The Cowboy Who Returned to Seattle
A decade-long separation, a tragic misunderstanding, and a chance encounter in Texas reunite a pair of long-lost lovers.
- The Waterfront Standoff of 1886
Striking workers at the Northern Pacific railroad docks force a showdown over fair pay, halting cargo operations in a city on the rise.
- The Midnight Thief at the Diamond Safe
When a daring burglar and a treacherous servant targeted the famous Etchin diamonds, a young woman faced a terrifying ordeal to protect the loot.
- The Right to the Ballot: A Territorial Call to Action
In 1886, as women in Washington Territory claimed the right to vote, editorialists argued that domestic life and civic participation were inseparable.
- The Fight for Seattle's First High School
An 1886 public debate over the 'luxury' of secondary education mirrors the modern struggle to fund public infrastructure.
- The Forgotten Radicalism of 1880s Seattle
When an influential Washington territorial politician argued that land monopolies were a threat to labor and that women's suffrage was the only path to a fair society.
- The Seattle Baker Who Stopped a Midnight Inferno
A quick-thinking baker at the Queen City Bakery spotted smoke rising from the Denny Block, narrowly averting a major downtown catastrophe.