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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 98 |
| 1883 | 511 |
| 1884 | 326 |
| 1885 | 566 |
| 1886 | 361 |
| 1887 | 327 |
2,189 stories
- The Success of Women on Juries
Despite skeptics, female jurors in Washington Territory receive praise for their conscientious and capable service.
- A Chaotic Runaway Team on Commercial Street
A frightened lumber team sparks a chain-reaction collision, leaving one man nearly killed and his buggy destroyed.
- Worker Falls 36 Feet in Opera House Construction Accident
German laborer Henry Neigleman fell 36 feet through a collapsed plank at Frye's Opera House, breaking a shoulder blade.
- An Eastern Critique of Seattle’s ‘Young Men’s Party’
A skeptical observer from Brooklyn weighs in on the age-based political movements shaping Washington Territory.
- The Salvage Ship That Came to Raise Puget Sound’s Sunken Wrecks
A new wrecking schooner arrived in Seattle with a rubber-suited diver, hydraulic jacks and a plan to lift the sunken Mississippi and Warhawk from the Sound.
- The South End's Schoolhouse Fight
A letter to the editor accuses Seattle's school directors of stalling on a promised south-end school block while the north end already got its building.
- A Prideful Property Shuffle Among Seattle's McNaught Brothers
When the McNaughts overdrew their bank accounts by $30,000, they staged a sale to Governor Ferry and a mortgage to a San Francisco firm rather than admit they needed a loan.
- The Skater Who Lost a Leg on the Sound
A steamboat mate's broken leg at Port George leads to amputation, a Seattle hospital bed, and a purse raised by his fellow boatmen.
- The Empire State of the West
An influential New York academic turns down California dreams to bet on the future of Washington Territory.
- Drunken Longshoreman Saved from Seattle’s Docks
After stumbling off the Main Street wharf, a local laborer’s immense voice narrowly saves him from drowning in the harbor.
- The Seattle-Tacoma Rivalry
A bold wager between cities exposes the intense competition for the region's first major railroad connection.
- The Bold Bet of Captain Brittain
After selling off his aging fleet of steamboats, a local captain risks his fortune on a custom-built, high-speed vessel to claim the future of Puget Sound transit.
- The City’s ‘Losings-Bank’: A Temperance Sermon on Economic Ruin
In an 1881 sermon at Plymouth Church, a local minister argues that Seattle’s rampant saloon culture—not market forces—is the primary engine of financial instability.
- The Price of a Public Nuisance
A man dubbed 'Dirty Smith' faces the magistrate and finds himself working off his debt to society on the city’s construction projects.
- The Vagrant and the 'Iron Jewelry'
A petty theft on the Duwamish River lands a drifter in a Seattle jail, where he must trade his freedom for hard labor.
- The Great Front Street Shirt Heist
A petty theft at a Seattle variety store ends in a dramatic, water-logged standoff at the base of the city's waterfront.
- The Neighborhood Soldiers
A group of young boys, inspired by the fever of impending conflict, staged a march through the streets of Seattle, ending in a dangerous improvised explosion.
- A Desperate End at a Seattle Boarding House
A young traveler from Nebraska succumbs to despair and alcohol, leaving behind a brief note for his kin.
- The Roses of December: A Seattle Winter's Tale
A traveler describes the mild wonders of Seattle's weather in 1885, reflecting on the region's rapid growth and its promise as a 'poor man's paradise'—if one can handle the labor.
- The Unlucky Hitchhiker of Seattle
A freak accident during a spring storm proves deadly for a man seeking shelter under a passing wagon.
- The Senator and the Irish Couple
A Western politician’s misguided attempt to intervene in a domestic brawl on the frontier results in an unexpected, four-way showdown.
- The Seattle Marksman Who Shot Himself Into a Nervous Breakdown
A hardware store's promotional stunt goes horribly wrong when counting shot holes leads to a mental collapse.
- The Old Guard’s Grudge: Territorial Pioneers Clash Over Seattle’s Reputation
A simmering resentment against Seattle in 1885 threatened to derail the annual meeting of the Territorial Pioneers of Washington, sparking a debate about civic unity that feels remarkably familiar today.
- The Unseen Perils of the Puget Sound Fog
An experienced mariner describes the harrowing reality of navigating steamships through the thick, impenetrable mists of the late 19th-century Sound.
- Terror in the Tunnel: A Ghostly Watchman’s Tale
A railroad trackman, left to guard a suicide victim’s remains in a Seattle tunnel, claims the severed head spoke to him in the dark.