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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 37 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 30 |
| 1886 | 16 |
| 1887 | 59 |
167 stories
- The Ghostly Tenants of the YMCA Hall
A religious schism in Tacoma leads to an unusual standoff when Spiritualists are locked out of their meeting place and the Y.M.C.A. finds its rooms at the center of local ecclesiastical drama.
- Tacoma’s Growing Pains: A New City Government Takes Root
Freshly inaugurated in 1887, Mayor Tawse calls for unity as the growing city navigates a contentious municipal transition and plans a massive Fourth of July celebration.
- Tragedy on Tacoma Avenue
A construction accident on a prominent Tacoma building site leaves a labor organizer critically injured and near death.
- The Political Retirement of M. E. O'Connor
After years of fighting for the workingman, a Seattle figure walks away from political life to find peace in a new business venture.
- The Steamer Collision That Divided the Waterfront
After two rival steamers collided in the Tacoma harbor, an official inquiry revealed a comedy of errors and stubborn seamanship.
- The Audit Office Face-Off
A taxpayer stands her ground against a city commissioner over property tax hikes, leaving the local government bureaucrats stunned.
- Tacoma Watchman Joe Taylor Dies After Warehouse Fall
Joe Taylor, a fixture of Tacoma’s early frontier history, dies after a drunken fall at the wharf.
- Who Really Sets the Price of Meat? A Puget Sound Monopoly Under the Knife
A Tacoma investigation finds that one middleman firm and a handful of Eastern Washington cattle kings hold the whole Sound's beef and mutton trade — and the dealers admit they are all getting rich while customers pay.
- Tacoma Blasted Seattle’s Sin—Then Got Its Own Saloons Counted
A letter to the Post-Intelligencer turns a morality fight back on New Tacoma, where the writer counts seven brothels, twenty-eight saloons and ministers barring non-Christians from church.
- The Great Tacoma Hop Battle
When a New York firm tried to back out of a contract after a price crash, they found that Tacoma business owners weren't taking no for an answer.
- An Old Tacoma Church Crumbles
A historic Catholic building, moved to make way for development, is destroyed by a winter storm before it could be repurposed.
- Pool Hall Altercation Ends in Shooting
A disagreement over a bar tab leads to a violent confrontation in Old Town Tacoma, leaving one man in critical condition.
- Skeptics Question the 'Boom' in Tacoma
A blistering critique of the 'Tacoma Ledger' and its persistent, unsubstantiated claims regarding the city's industrial future.
- The Wire War: Railroad vs. Telegraph
A legal standoff erupts between the Postal Telegraph Company and the Northern Pacific Railroad along the tracks between Tacoma and Kalama.
- The 'Crusher' Strikes Again
The steam collier San Pedro continues its destructive streak on Puget Sound.
- The Roadmaster's Gold Watch and the Mail Robber Who Came Back for More
Samuel Henry of the N.P.R.R. woke to find his watch gone and assumed it was a joke. A Tacoma marshal followed a hunch to a young man fresh out of the penitentiary — who confessed, sold the watch on Pacific Avenue, and then disappeared.
- A Telescope for Tacoma’s Frontier Scholars
A Brooklyn astronomer journeys to Tacoma to secure books and equipment for a new boys' college, betting that clear Puget Sound skies will change the future of the territory.
- The Great Horse Heist of South Tacoma
A doctor's horse is snatched from a storefront and recovered miles away in the timber.
- The Hop Bonanza in the Puyallup Valley
An account of the massive agricultural boom in the Puyallup Valley, highlighting the success of local hop farmers and the looming shadow of the volcano.
- Double Standards in New Tacoma and Tacoma City
A call for equal law enforcement as 'ancient' Tacoma City ignores the Sunday saloon closures observed in New Tacoma.
- A Near-Drowning at the Mill
A young man is saved from the water by a mill employee who has a reputation for bravery.
- Tragic Drowning at the Tacoma Waterfront
An unidentified man, intoxicated and disoriented, falls to his death while attempting to navigate the dark railroad tracks.
- The Mailroom Kerfuffle in New Tacoma
A secret telegram, a local feud, and a postmaster who chose 'higher law' over departmental secrecy.
- The Blast at the Water Pipe
A reckless explosion near a city water main in Tacoma threatened the reservoir supply, forcing a frantic overnight repair.
- A Tangle Over Tacoma Land
A legal dispute emerges in the southern part of Tacoma over the alleged 'unlawful' development and obstruction of property.