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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 421 |
| 1889 | 1,084 |
| 1891 | 492 |
| 1892 | 2,259 |
| 1893 | 2,699 |
| 1894 | 2,015 |
| 1895 | 1,830 |
10,800 stories
- Seattle's 1891 Ballot: Annexation and $861,704 in Bonds
Before Seattle grew to its modern size, the city held a massive special election to decide the future of its neighboring townships and fund its expanding infrastructure.
- The Midnight Hold-Up That Turned Deadly
A trio of armed men terrorized downtown saloons until a victim fought back with a shotgun, leaving one assailant near death.
- A Fatal Duel Over a Heart
A husband in a nearby town loses his life in a tragic altercation sparked by his wife’s paramour.
- The Tragedy of 'Cowboy Mary' and the Lost Lover of Whitechapel
After her partner died by suicide, a local woman known as 'Cowboy Mary' was arrested for disorderly conduct while mourning him at a Seattle morgue.
- The Constitutional Right to Not Be Imprisoned for Debt
When local merchants tried to jail a man for unpaid loans to prevent him from leaving town, a Seattle judge put the state’s progressive constitution to the test.
- The Human Cost of the Des Moines Boom
A tragic suicide in Tacoma exposes the devastating toll of speculative real estate schemes.
- The Tacoma Land Grab: How Rich Men Tried to Steal Washington’s Senate Seat
In January 1891, Seattle’s press rallied behind incumbent Senator Watson Squire against a rival backed by Tacoma’s wealthy elite, exposing a bitter battle over whether the state would be ruled by its people or its land barons.
- The Gall and Wormwood of Olympia: Tacoma’s Defeat in the Senate Race
As Washington's first U.S. Senator is chosen in a bitter legislative battle, defeated candidate Calkins' supporters cry foul, while Jefferson County delegates secure the victory for Watson Squire.
- Longshoremen Wage War on Stevedoring Monopoly
A newly formed stevedoring firm threatens the livelihoods of union workers, sparking a conflict on the Seattle waterfront.
- A Scandal in Port Townsend
A Superior Court judge abruptly shutters his court amid intense pressure from the local bar association and calls for his impeachment.
- Violence in the Opium Dens of Colfax
A brutal feud between laborers in a remote Eastern Washington opium joint ends in a horrific shooting and a manhunt.
- Senate Moves to Outlaw Private Armed Guards
Legislature targets 'obnoxious agents of moneyed power' as Kinnear bill passes unanimously.
- The Strange Abduction of Lodie Wirt
A young girl from Philadelphia, missing after being swept into the orbit of a disreputable variety actress, is recovered in a Seattle boarding house.
- An International Love-Feast at the Boundary
Washington and British Columbia celebrate the completion of the Fairhaven & Southern Railroad with silver hammers and toasts to a shared future.
- Who Owns the Reservation Land?
An elder of the Puyallup tribe speaks on the controversy regarding non-tribal descendants claiming reservation land allotments.
- The Abduction of Lodie Wirt
A teenage girl is rescued from a couple suspected of using opium to control and abduct young women.
- The Trial of Judge Sachs: A Legislature in Uproar
Tensions boiled over at the Capitol as legislators and lawyers clashed in a dramatic, gavel-pounding removal proceeding against a sitting judge.
- The Sting That Toppled a Representative
When Washington state lawmaker John L. Metcalfe accepted a bribe to expose corruption, the legislature responded by trying to expel him instead of the briber.
- The Whistleblower Who Risked It All on the House Floor
When Washington legislator Metcalfe turned in a bribe, his colleagues turned on him. In a dramatic trial for expulsion, he dared to tell them their political machine was 'as corrupt as hell.'
- The Price of Progress: A Right-of-Way Dispute That Reshaped the Region
When an exorbitant demand from a local farmer stalled the Great Northern Railway, the company threatened to bypass Snohomish and Everett entirely in favor of Seattle.
- The Boot That Didn't Fit: A Murder Trial at the Turn of the Century
In a dramatic courtroom scene, an accused man attempts to clear his name by proving his feet were simply too large for the evidence that supposedly convicted him.
- The Test Case of Chin Fook
A legal battle over the constitutional rights of Chinese residents in 1890s Seattle.
- The Runaway Cable Car of Madison Street
A silent, uncrewed cable car plunges down the steep grade toward Lake Washington, resulting in a fatal collision and a sobering coroner's inquest into transit safety.
- The Hero of the Ferndale Disaster
When the British bark Ferndale went down in a freezing storm off the Washington coast, one local woman braved the surf to save the lives of three sailors.
- Fatal Brawl Over a Billiard Game in Puyallup
A wealthy Puyallup man is dead after a dispute in a saloon leads to a violent, racially charged assault.