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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 799 |
| 1884 | 455 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
3,198 stories
- The Mail Boat’s Erratic Schedule
Seattle residents and businesses are struggling with the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company's unreliable mail delivery, which has turned a one-day turnaround into a three-day ordeal.
- The Tragedy at the Smith Home
A domestic accident in 1885 leads to the sudden, accidental death of a young mother in her bedroom.
- The Midnight Church Feud of Tacoma
A power struggle in a local Baptist church turns into a bizarre, locked-door standoff where the pastor eventually resorted to extinguishing the lights to force dissenters out.
- The 1885 Vision for Publicly Owned Railroads
A visiting labor activist in Seattle argued that government ownership of the nation's railroads would eliminate corporate greed, reduce travel costs to mere cents, and create thousands of safe, well-paying jobs.
- Seattle’s First Great Austerity Drive
Facing municipal budget woes in 1885, the City Council slashed worker salaries and abandoned the investigation into a scandal involving the Police Chief.
- The Colonel, The Schoolmaster, and the Writ of Mandamus
When a Seattle teacher enforced a strict attendance policy, a local parent sued to force the school to readmit his son. The Chief Justice’s ruling settled a tug-of-war over authority that echoes in modern classrooms.
- The Ghost Railroad of Seattle
Prominent investors toured the idle 'Shore Line' road, leaving locals to wonder if the long-stalled project would ever serve the city or just provide firewood.
- Homesteader Investigates Wailing at Lake Washington's Haunted Spring
An early Seattle settler recounts a terrifying, night-long vigil at a 'haunted' spring that kept his dog trembling and the local Indigenous community at bay.
- The 'Law and Order' Battles of Old Seattle
As municipal elections approached in 1885, rival factions clashed over the 'principle' of regulating vice, revealing a city struggling with its own moral identity.
- The Price of the 'Boom' in 1885 Seattle
While the city rode a wave of prosperity, locals were already feeling the strain of rapid expansion, speculation, and the 'dull times' that inevitably follow a growth spurt.
- The Unspoken Cost of Building a Frontier City
A disillusioned man’s search for government work exposes the desperation lurking behind the optimism of 1885 Seattle.
- Labor Unions Demand Action on Border Enforcement in 1886
An exchange of letters between the Seattle Knights of Labor and the Collector of Customs highlights early local anxieties over immigration policy.
- The Tragedy of a Cattle Stampede
A panicked herd causes a fire and widespread destruction near Seattle, leaving the community reeling from the sudden calamity.
- Lightning Strikes North Seattle
A severe thunderstorm in July 1885 brought dramatic electrical damage to homes and businesses in North Seattle, setting off fires and injuring a local resident.
- The Tragic Finality of William Naff
A Seattle man, driven to despair by illness, orchestrated a gruesome end to his life using telephone company equipment.
- Tragedy on the Nooksack River
A canoe capsizes while ferrying settlers near the Nooksack River crossing, highlighting the precarious nature of travel in the remote Washington Territory.
- The Newspaper Feud That Defined Pioneer Politics
When the 'Tacoma Ledger' accused a political rival of switching parties for personal gain, a blistering public retort revealed the cutthroat world of territorial power brokers.
- The Cruel Poisoning of Seattle’s Street Dogs
An 1885 report reveals a string of violent animal deaths in Seattle, sparking public outrage against those using strychnine in the city streets.
- The Northern Pacific's 'Remarkable' Ghost Stories
When the Northern Pacific Railroad tried to claim public land, their dubious land-grant 'discoveries' sparked a week of local outrage that exposed corporate greed.
- The Ghost Ship of Seattle Wharf
Once a celebrated Pacific passenger steamer, the California met a final, unglamorous fate as a stripped-down bark moored on the Seattle waterfront.
- The Hidden Hazard of the Woods
A toddler suffers horrific burns after falling into a camouflaged pit of smoldering rot.
- The Circus Runaway
A large elephant breaks loose in the middle of a circus, causing panic and injuring a local man.
- A Life-Saving Surgery in Seattle
After being diagnosed with a malignant growth in his cheek and upper jaw, a local man undergoes a grueling, three-hour surgical procedure to remove the cancer.
- The Seattle Man Who Tried to Photograph the Soul
A local resident claims to have invented a device that captures the human spirit departing the body at the moment of death.
- The Price of a Drunken Brawl
Two men were fined and held for trial after a violent, alcohol-fueled assault on a passerby outside Seattle.