Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 2 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 52 |
| 1877 | 34 |
| 1878 | 30 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 10 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 41 |
| 1884 | 34 |
| 1885 | 41 |
| 1886 | 7 |
| 1887 | 35 |
| 1888 | 62 |
| 1889 | 101 |
| 1890 | 16 |
| 1891 | 67 |
| 1892 | 119 |
| 1893 | 95 |
| 1894 | 72 |
| 1895 | 130 |
| 1897 | 7 |
| 1898 | 15 |
| 1899 | 31 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 67 |
| 1904 | 21 |
| 1905 | 5 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 30 |
| 1909 | 65 |
| 1910 | 23 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 18 |
| 1915 | 20 |
| 1916 | 43 |
| 1917 | 6 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 21 |
| 1924 | 10 |
| 1925 | 11 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
1,373 stories matching develop
- A Tangle Over Tacoma Land
A legal dispute emerges in the southern part of Tacoma over the alleged 'unlawful' development and obstruction of property.
- The Women of Olympia Organize for the State
Local women form a society to promote the interests of the new state and preserve its history.
- The Wife-Slasher Who Tried to Play Insane—and the Seattle Jury That Didn’t Buy It
McGee feigned madness so badly that the jury convicted him on the first ballot. A Steilacoom asylum doctor explained why three months of observation found no insanity—only a terrified wife.
- The Silver-Lead Company Bets on Metaline
Ore assays, new concentrators, and a bunkhouse point to a mining camp shaking off its slow start—and Newport money is buying in.
- A $100 Million Power City Planned at Priest Rapids
A grand, hundred-million-dollar vision for an industrial city rises on the Columbia—though for now, it exists only on paper.
- Condemned Shacks Near Downtown Face Demolition
Building inspector condemns wooden structures at a prime downtown intersection, forcing a transition to modern brick development.
- The Iron Rush: Seattle’s Early Fight Against Monopoly
When mining magnates and railroad tycoons clashed over the future of Washington's natural resources, Seattle’s civic leaders took a stand to protect local control.
- The Price of Prosperity in the Valley
As irrigation booms, Yakima's editor warns merchants against the dangerous habit of unchecked store credit.
- The Curse of the Golden Calf: Seattle’s Economic Anxiety in 1877
As banks tightened their grip on local capital, a Seattle editor warned that hoarding wealth—rather than investing in local industry and homes—was a dangerous path to ruin.
- The Seattle Land Rush of 1889
A weekly log of deeds and transactions reveals the frenzied pace of development, speculation, and shifting property lines in pre-statehood Seattle.
- The Unintended Urban Pioneers of Sumas
Two land developers scouting for a new townsite find themselves unexpected fathers to a pair of bear cubs.
- Building a Neighborhood on Easy Terms
A local firm introduces a development plan for the city's north side to help residents build their own homes.
- The City Rises Against a Heavyweight Bully
When boxing legend John L. Sullivan publicly spewed racist venom in 1892, Seattle’s Afro-American League turned his own brutal rhetoric against him, demanding dignity from the local press.
- Mystery Developer Promises Electric Rail Connection to Capital
A man named C. T. Morck seeks franchises for an electric railway between Tacoma and Olympia, putting up a $10,000 bond.
- The Wealthy Thief of Cheney
A wealthy woman from Cheney, Washington, is arrested in Spokane for shoplifting, revealing a hidden life of compulsive theft.
- A Call to the Ballot Box for Working Women
Despite women securing the franchise, local labor organizers find dismal registration numbers among union families.
- Seattle's Crackdown on 'Wine Rooms'
City officials move to outlaw private booths and closed 'wine rooms' in saloons to curb illicit activity.
- The Seattle Housing Boom of 1876
While miners chased gold in North Georgia, Seattle entrepreneurs were busy speculating on 'hard finish' homes in a rapidly developing frontier town.
- Railroad Giant Declares Bankruptcy
The Northern Pacific Railroad has been placed into receivership, signaling a major shift in Northwest transit and land development.
- The Opium Smuggler of Port Townsend
A ship steward is arrested and held on high bond after customs agents discover a hidden stash of opium on his person and in his cabin.
- A Chemist Finds the Cause of a Mass Poisoning Near Monroe
A sample of tainted head cheese was already decomposing when it reached the table, and bacterial poisons are blamed for making a large number of people dangerously ill.
- The Millionaire, the Colonel, and the $100,000 Snowbank
Montana copper king Marcus Daly poured a fortune into a Cascade mountain mining camp — then sent an auditor up to see what the colonel had been doing with it.
- The Renton Addition: Seattle’s 1889 Speculative Gold Rush
As property developers paved the way for Seattle's expansion, one man's high-stakes sale of the 'cream' of Beacon Hill real estate signaled a city-wide frenzy for land and infrastructure.
- The Cemetery Crisis in Walla Walla
A growing city faces a grim reality as its burial grounds reach capacity and legal disputes stall expansion.
- Spokane Capitalists Map an Electric Railroad and Irrigation Empire West of Newport
Surveyors traced a line from Arcadia to Newport while a syndicate secured water rights on five Stevens County lakes, promising power, irrigation and a transformed countryside.