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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 62 |
| 1858 | 29 |
| 1859 | 52 |
| 1860 | 27 |
| 1861 | 101 |
| 1862 | 87 |
| 1863 | 69 |
| 1864 | 32 |
| 1865 | 11 |
| 1871 | 11 |
| 1872 | 140 |
| 1876 | 812 |
| 1877 | 678 |
| 1878 | 526 |
| 1879 | 64 |
| 1880 | 180 |
| 1882 | 130 |
| 1883 | 911 |
| 1884 | 499 |
| 1885 | 838 |
| 1886 | 492 |
| 1887 | 484 |
| 1888 | 440 |
| 1889 | 1,324 |
| 1890 | 287 |
| 1891 | 1,115 |
| 1892 | 2,855 |
| 1893 | 2,829 |
| 1894 | 2,116 |
| 1895 | 1,830 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 62 |
| 1898 | 196 |
| 1899 | 446 |
| 1900 | 114 |
| 1902 | 34 |
| 1903 | 1,332 |
| 1904 | 1,126 |
| 1905 | 124 |
| 1907 | 53 |
| 1908 | 351 |
| 1909 | 1,545 |
| 1910 | 413 |
| 1911 | 160 |
| 1912 | 73 |
| 1914 | 261 |
| 1915 | 300 |
| 1916 | 545 |
| 1917 | 332 |
| 1918 | 45 |
| 1919 | 5 |
| 1920 | 1 |
| 1922 | 18 |
| 1923 | 185 |
| 1924 | 151 |
| 1925 | 64 |
| 1928 | 14 |
| 1929 | 19 |
27,002 stories
- The Last Chapter at 1344 C Street
After her abusive husband hanged himself in the Tacoma city jail, a Swedish-born woman shot herself—and the policeman who had tried to save her stayed at her bedside until the end.
- The Cowcatcher Lifted Her Into the Air, and Then They Took Her Home
An elderly Native woman walking the Northern Pacific tracks below town is swept up by the overland express — and walks away from it, carried off by her mother and son.
- The Contractor Died in the Church He Was Building
Charles R. Brown, a prosperous Seattle builder, collapsed in the gallery of the unfinished First Presbyterian Church—three minutes from work to death.
- Seattle's Street Grading Unearthed Native Remains—and Discarded Them
In 1876, as Seattle graded its streets, workers found the remains of dead Indians and disposed of them without ceremony. A local paper reported it as just another improvement.
- Fatal Wharfside Shooting Leaves Town in Uproar
A long-standing feud ends in murder on Union Wharf, with the suspect fleeing by boat as the community demands accountability from local law enforcement.
- The Tragic End of a Timber Titan
Arthur Phinney, the driving force behind the Port Ludlow mill, dies from a long-standing internal injury.
- Shipping Voters Across the Sound: Tacoma's Imported Electorate
An organized scheme ships hundreds of men from Seattle to Tacoma by rail and steamer to register and vote in April's election — and it unravels when 150 would-be voters show up at a dock looking for the man who promised to pay their fare.
- Tacoma's Labor Boycott: Business Men Forced to Meet in a Basement as Tensions Escalate
A planned meeting of business men to address the Trades Council's boycott of the Ledger newspaper is postponed after the Commercial Club refuses its rooms. Undeterred, a group meets in a basement, but the Trades Council dismisses it as meaningless. The city remains on edge as labor and business collide.
- A Forgery Arrest, a Suicide Attempt, and a Case Spokane Papers Got Wrong
Brad Knapp was arrested in Seattle over school warrants; days earlier his wife had shot herself, and a mistaken identity muddled the story.
- A Murderer Pries His Way Out of the Steilacoom Asylum
Gianini, convicted of killing a Jewish peddler in Eastern Washington, removed a bar from his cell window and vanished; scouts were sent out in every direction.
- When a Chinese Theater Company Rented Tester’s Hall
In 1883, a morning paper attacked the lease as a public offense. The Post-Intelligencer pushed back: the actors were no more immoral than any other troupe, and the hall was old anyway.
- The Charity Case Who Came Back a Brutal Husband
Port Blakely mill hands passed the hat for a crippled co-worker and sent him home to Kentucky. He came back married — and the town's justice of the peace had to take his wife away from him by night.
- The Lost Schooner's Dark Secret
A confession in Victoria reveals the brutal fate of two missing vessels and their crews.
- A Brutal Murder on the Trail to Fort Steilacoom
A soldier is found dead after a violent altercation involving multiple men, leaving the community in shock.
- A Colville Judge Just Voided Thousands of Tax Deeds — and Owners May Get Their Land Back
A Stevens County superior court ruling invalidated tax titles tied to a 1902 foreclosure judgment, unsettling more than 3,000 properties and opening a path for former owners to redeem land.
- The Fishhook Baited With Human Flesh
In a Port Townsend hotel, a sailor displays the improvised wire hook that kept survivors of the wrecked whaler James Allen alive after the disaster in Bering Sea.
- A Chimney Sweep’s Fatal Fall—and the Hidden Injury That Killed Him
Joseph Bauer fell from Judge Henry’s roof while sweeping a chimney. He seemed merely bruised—until a ruptured liver killed him days later, prompting a rare post-mortem watched by Olympia’s doctors.
- The Railroad That Wanted Aberdeen's Streets
A homegrown rail company asked for a thirty-foot right of way, the eastern entrance to town, and the whole waterfront. The council had to decide how much public street to give away.
- Rabid Coyotes Put the Whole Columbia Valley on Edge
State College confirmed hydrophobia in a hog’s head from a Richland-area ranch, prompting dog quarantines and warnings that unusually bold coyotes could spread the disease through the valley.
- A Gold-Headed Cane for the Man Who Stayed on the Phone in a Burning Mine
Newcastle honored C.C. Anderson, who kept giving orders to trapped miners as the roof burned above him.
- A Dead Unmarried Worker Was Worth Nothing—Until This Law
Washington's legislature finally let dependent parents and siblings sue when a provider was killed on the job, ending a rule that made unmarried workers cheaper to kill than to maim.
- Shot by a Rejected Lover, Mabel Thorp Is Mending at St. Joseph's
Two days after Ernest Grant shot her and then drank acid to kill himself, the young Tacoma woman is healing fast — the bullet wound, the paper reports, is nearly closed, but the shock is another matter.
- Mourned as Dead, He Came Home From Australia
C. W. Ellsworth vanished from Everett last September. His wife and little daughter on a ranch near Machias had given him up for dead — until he walked back in, with a story about a waterfront saloon, a drugged drink and a schooner bound for the Antipodes.
- One Punch in a Tacoma Saloon, and Three Days Later a Man Was Dead
A Seattle commercial traveler needled a dog, then a bartender. He walked the streets with a fractured skull for three days before he finally asked for a hospital — and his last coherent claim was that he'd been sandbagged.
- He Kept a $5,000 Reward Posted for His Missing Wife. Then He Drank Himself to Death.
Christine Nelson stepped into a New York hotel room in October and was never seen again. Her husband spent a fortune and two trips East searching — and died this morning at St. Joseph's.