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 | 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 Siege of Third Street
When tenants refused to vacate their boarding house, a Seattle landlord responded by nailing the gates shut and mounting a guard.
- The Electrified Watchman
When the Seattle Electric Railway’s infrastructure turned the city into a hazard, a local watchman learned the hard way that his job required handling more than just time.
- A Desperate Tailor's Public Plea at the Postmaster's Door
After his wife fled to Tacoma to work in the post office, a destitute man attempted to take his own life on the doorstep of her employer.
- Mystery Shooting at the Washington National Bank
A bank accountant is found with a gunshot wound to the chest, but the circumstances behind the incident remain disturbingly unclear.
- The Last Stand at Point Edmonds
A stubborn brickyard owner defends his property against the Great Northern Railway with nothing but a shotgun and legal grit.
- The Pox Patrol: When Smallpox Patients Went Out for Whiskey
In 1880, Seattle's quarantine measures were so lax that victims were reportedly slipping out of the pesthouse at night to hit the saloons.
- The Shadowy Business of Patent Medicines
A cynical drug clerk reveals the grisly truth behind 'medical' concoctions and the dangerous incompetence of the pharmacy trade in 1880s Seattle.
- The Clam-Seller and the Street-Car: A Seattle Reckoning
When a man was killed by a train on a Seattle street, a bystander's callous comment sparked a confrontation that exposed the deep-seated tensions of the city's growing industrial landscape.
- The Name Debate: Why Seattle Nearly Became 'Tacoma'
When an Eastern Senator tried to force a name change on the future state, the people of the Washington Territory pushed back with fierce regional pride.
- The Ghost of Dynamite on the Northwestern Road
A train passenger train narrowly escapes derailment when a forgotten cache of giant powder detonates eight miles outside of Seattle.
- The Desperate Leap at Jackson Street
A local woman struggling with poverty and addiction finds herself in the bay after a public cry for help.
- Inquest Held for Remains Found in Seattle Cellar
A jury convenes to address the discovery of unidentified Chinese remains in a cellar, raising questions about municipal neglect and health risks.
- An Infernal Machine on the Tracks
A dangerous, home-made bomb was discovered on the streetcar tracks in Seattle, chilling a city already tense from labor agitation.
- Republican Rally at the Opera House
Judge Wood defends the Sheriff’s record in the anti-Chinese expulsions of 1886.
- The Opium Smugglers of the Idaho
A federal investigation uncovers a massive scheme to hide contraband in the bilges and barrels of a Pacific steamship, revealing a deep culture of corruption in the Sound’s maritime trade.
- The Bachelor of South Lake and the One-Dollar Fine
A territorial dispute over a fence escalated into a shooting and a lake-dunking, leading to an unlikely legal entanglement for an elderly hermit.
- The Evangelists and the Brothel
In 1887, a group of women conducted prayer meetings inside Seattle’s houses of prostitution, confronting the grim reality of life for the women living and working within.
- The Price of a 'Sharp Practice'
An early Tacoma settler recounts how a handshake deal for a town site—and his trust in corporate promises—cost him a half-million-dollar fortune.
- The Waterfront Vigilante: A Seattle Harbor Scandal
A customs official and a boatman ambushed a crew of sailors returning to shore at Point Hudson, leading to a senseless shooting that left a seaman's life hanging in the balance.
- The Human Cargo of the 'Wolcott'
A government customs vessel intercepts a fishing boat off Smith Island, revealing a harrowing attempt to smuggle nine men into Seattle.
- The Forgotten Paupers of King County
A backlog of 800 unburied individuals, kept in temporary graves due to a lack of city funds, sparks a call for municipal accountability.
- The Forgotten Pioneer Who Built Tacoma
Job Carr arrived in a wilderness with an ox team and a dream of a railroad terminal, only to die with a broken heart as the city he staked rose up to push him aside.
- The Brutal Departure from Commercial Street
After years of enduring her husband's violence and the destruction of her home, a Seattle woman seeks a divorce to save her young daughter.
- The Tragedy of a Domestic Cage
A Seattle woman’s desperate attempt to escape an abusive marriage ends in a violent suicide after her husband, an older man driven by irrational jealousy, takes his own life following a brutal assault.
- Streetcar Chaos and the Case of the Two Dynamite Bombs
An evening confrontation on a Tacoma streetcar escalated into a brawl involving two armed men and a terrifying discovery of hidden explosives.