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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 98 |
| 1883 | 511 |
| 1884 | 326 |
| 1885 | 566 |
| 1886 | 361 |
| 1887 | 327 |
2,189 stories
- The Paper Trail of Patronage
A bold act of civic favoritism in King County sees the Board of Commissioners award a lucrative printing contract to a higher bidder, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.
- The Forgotten Panic Over 'Pauper Immigration'
An 1887 editorial reveals how Seattle's civic leaders—and the nation—framed foreign labor as a social and financial 'drain,' echoing the xenophobic rhetoric of modern political debates.
- The Galley Explosion on the Steamer Glide
A cook's dangerous attempt to spark a galley fire with coal oil leads to an explosion and a narrow escape from disaster on the Puget Sound.
- The Divine Sarah Bernhardt’s Theatrical Meltdown in Seattle
When the legendary French actress discovered her grand stage at the Columbia Theater had been booked for a minstrel show, she didn't just walk off—she unleashed a legendary, multi-lingual tantrum.
- The Unhoused Emigrants of Lake Union
A charitable society in 1887 Seattle discovers a family living in a 'miserable shanty' and works to find them housing and employment.
- The Waterfront Cold War: Seattle’s Battle Over the Tideflats
As railroad companies choked off the tideflats with unpermitted pilings, local manufacturers fought to keep their water access open in a clash between industrial expansion and small business survival.
- The Blue Ribbon Reunion at the Union Depot
A young man waits nightly at the Seattle train station, searching for a stranger marked by a blue ribbon on her wrist.
- The Great Fourth of July Camp-Out Fiasco
When Seattle’s local militia attempted to prep for a military parade, their poor planning and lack of supplies resulted in a humiliating, mud-soaked retreat.
- A Community's Last Act for a Murdered Man
When immigrant Julius Scherbring was killed for his meager savings, his German countrymen stepped in to ensure he received a proper burial rather than a pauper’s grave.
- The Unintended Consequence of Sunday Closing
When Seattle’s city officials tried to enforce strict Sunday liquor laws, the city's saloons found a loophole that turned a day of temperance into a day of public defiance.
- The Unpaved Dispute: A Seattle Street Fight
When the City Council attempted to force through street improvements against the wishes of local property owners, the resulting legal struggle highlighted the friction between civic development and individual land rights in 1887.
- The Dark of Night Smuggling Ring in Puget Sound
A steamship captain fingers a local agent in a brazen operation to sneak mysterious trunks onto a vessel under the cover of darkness.
- Tragedy in the Timber: A Faller’s Fatal Error
A young logger’s life is cut short by a freak accident in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Great Timber Fires of 1887
As drought conditions persist, devastating fires tear through the logging camps and timberlands near Seattle.
- The House on J Street: A Tenant’s Defiance
When Milton Spinning bought a house in Seattle for his own use, he didn't expect to find a stranger occupying it against his will.
- The Desperate Night in the Seattle Depot
A homeless couple is evicted from a rail station in the dead of night, only to be saved by the charity of local women.
- The Lumber Boom of 1887
Seattle's bustling mills are running night and day to keep up with the frantic demand for timber, driving labor wages and export prices to new heights.
- The Struggle for a Seattle Shipyard
As railroad expansion swallows the waterfront, local mariners argue the city's future depends on building a floating dry dock to survive.
- The Price of a Petty Grudge
A Seattle legal dispute drags on for four years over ten dollars, costing hundreds in court fees while a jury of citizens yawns through the spectacle.
- The Oregon Railway & Navigation Company’s Seattle Bottleneck
Caught between a local captain’s limited authority and a slow-moving corporate bureaucracy in New York, the steamboat company faces a potential collapse of its Puget Sound trade.
- The Great Seattle Land Rush of 1887
When cheap rail tickets from the Canadian Pacific triggered a real estate stampede into Seattle.
- The Mother’s Search and the Tacoma Variety Stage
A mother’s desperate attempt to rescue her daughter from a life in the variety theaters leads to a public confrontation in 1887 Seattle.
- The Steamship Anderson Limps Home
A Puget Sound workhorse suffers a catastrophic machinery failure at the mouth of the Sound, sparking a scramble for repairs and questions about the vessel's future.
- The Jailhouse Recognition: A Killer Unmasked in Seattle
While awaiting his own release, a prisoner in the Seattle city jail spots a familiar face in the next cell and realizes he is sharing space with a notorious fugitive wanted for murder.
- The Hunter and the Runaway
A determined civilian investigator tracks a suspect across the West, certain he’s bagged a notorious fugitive, while the target sits in a Seattle jail cell for the minor crime of selling liquor to Indians.