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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1871 | 8 |
| 1872 | 110 |
| 1876 | 536 |
| 1877 | 378 |
| 1878 | 279 |
| 1879 | 15 |
| 1880 | 134 |
| 1882 | 98 |
| 1883 | 511 |
| 1884 | 326 |
| 1885 | 566 |
| 1886 | 361 |
| 1887 | 327 |
| 1888 | 314 |
| 1889 | 800 |
| 1890 | 11 |
| 1891 | 340 |
| 1892 | 1,332 |
| 1893 | 1,606 |
| 1894 | 1,246 |
| 1895 | 1,087 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 9 |
| 1898 | 21 |
| 1899 | 366 |
| 1900 | 6 |
| 1902 | 6 |
| 1903 | 153 |
| 1904 | 71 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 76 |
| 1910 | 26 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 5 |
| 1915 | 5 |
| 1916 | 28 |
| 1917 | 10 |
| 1923 | 9 |
| 1924 | 12 |
| 1925 | 3 |
| 1928 | 14 |
| 1929 | 17 |
11,240 stories
- The City Hall That Wasn't: Seattle's 1882 Fire Engine Obsession
When faced with a choice between a new municipal center and a state-of-the-art steam fire engine, Seattle citizens chose the engine—prioritizing immediate safety over civic expansion.
- The Great 'Zigzag' of Seattle's Waterfront
In 1876, a frustrated editor took on the city's chaotic street planning, where Commercial Street dead-ended into a 'higgledy-piggledy' row of stores, forcing travelers to detour just to reach the waterfront.
- The City Council's Yellow Flag Fiasco
When Seattle officials passed a health ordinance to curb contagion, they refused to apply it to a notorious local brothel, sparking a public outcry against political hypocrisy.
- The Colored Independents Demand Recognition: A Fight for Political Dignity in 1886 Seattle
As the city prepares to elect Frank Black as mayor, a newly formed club of Black voters secures a rare agreement from Republican leaders for political recognition, rejecting bribes and demanding respect in a segregated era.
- Love vs. Father: The Seattle Elopation That Defied a Kentucky Patriarch
When her fiancé’s train was late and her father sent a telegram to stop the wedding, a spirited young woman from Louisville chose love over obedience in downtown Seattle.
- The Railroad King's Secret: Kahn Reveals the 'Scoop' Behind Seattle's Next Big Line
In a rare interview on his birthday, Democratic committee member Joe Kahn spills the beans on the Northern Pacific’s expansion plans and hints at a massive political scandal involving President Harrison.
- The Kidnapping of the Kerr Children: A Seattle Scandal of Custody and Class
In July 1888, Chief Justice Jones presided over a dramatic habeas corpus hearing regarding two young girls seized from an orphanage by their father and his new lover, sparking a public debate over morality, custody rights, and the fate of vulnerable children.
- The Man Who Wanted Only the Rich to Vote
At the University of Washington’s first commencement, a visiting judge delivered a fiery address arguing that municipal government is like a railroad company: those without property should have no say in its management.
- The Ashes of Affluence: How Seattle’s Burnt District Became a Goldmine
While the city mourns the destruction of its commercial heart, savvy investors are turning charred lots into fortunes, with property values tripling in just years.
- The Orphan’s Plea: A Poem That Moved Seattle to Tears on Decoration Day
As the city honored Civil War dead with solemn processions and speeches, a young girl’s grief over her father’s unmarked grave brought the Grand Marshal to tears.
- The Mystery of the Drowned Man’s Missing Fortune
In July 1870, Seattle’s probate court launched a frantic investigation into whether $2,000 vanished from the pocket of John Filfe, who drowned in Puget Sound days earlier.
- The 'Pitiful Hedizzened Hurlots': Seattle's Moral Panic Over the Steamship Brothels
In September 1872, a furious editorial in the *Seattle Daily Intelligencer* condemned the floating red-light districts on Puget Sound, accusing steamship lines of carrying 'pollution and death' to every port while politicians looked away.
- The Scandal That Shook Seattle: The Arrest of Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin
In November 1872, two women were jailed for 'obscenity' after sending publications to a prominent broker. Their arrest sparked a frenzy in the young city, drawing crowds and highlighting the clash between radical feminism and Victorian morality.
- The Great Welcome: Seattle Plans a 'Rousing' Ovation for Returning War Heroes
Mayor Humes and city officials rally behind a public subscription to fund fireworks, banquets, and even a mock battle at Lake Washington to greet the Washington Volunteers returning from Manila.
- The Match That Killed: A Seattle Woman’s Desperate End
Maggie Borchers, 30, died in agony after ingesting sulfur matches because her family had locked away all other means of suicide.
- The Bloomer Rebellion: Seattle Girls Defy Censors to Save Their Drill
When anonymous posters labeled the University of Washington’s women’s physical culture class as 'obscene,' a committee of students and faculty mobilized the entire city to remove them—proving that the fight for women's bodily autonomy was already a local sport.
- The Forgotten Addicts of Seattle's Skid Road
A railroad man's harrowing story of dependency reveals the hidden suffering behind the headlines in the turn-of-the-century city.
- Seattle’s Grand Welcome: The Battle for the First Washington Volunteers’ Homecoming
In May 1899, Seattle mobilized its entire civic infrastructure to welcome home the first regiment from the Spanish-American War. With Mayor Hume calling joint committees and the City Council lobbying the Navy for a battleship, the city prepared for a celebration that would define its post-war identity.
- The Officer Who Stole From the Poor: A Seattle Cop’s Betrayal
Officer J.E. Doney is arrested for forging receipts and stealing money from Japanese immigrants, shattering his reputation as a trusted member of the police force.
- The Church Fair Scandal: When Seattle’s Clergy Played Prank on a Congregation
A reverend and his colleagues turned a charity fundraiser into an elaborate joke, dressing two women in 'shabbily' clothes to perform a 'Irish spectacle'—only for the punchline to backfire spectacularly.
- The Circus Comes to Town: Seattle’s First Big Top Spectacle
As the Hingling Bros. circus unloads its menagerie and performers in the Northern Pacific yards, locals gather for a parade and show that promises 'everything advertised.'
- The Mill That Never Was: How Chicago Capitalists Tried to Buy Seattle’s Soul
In June 1899, Theo. Ludgate arrived in town promising 800 jobs and a massive milling enterprise. Instead, he sparked a legal battle over land leases and vanished back east, leaving behind only the ghost of an industrial boom.
- Tragedy on Pioneer Square: A Young Woman’s Brush with Death
While visitors from Victoria watched the fireworks display on Pioneer Square, a stray firecracker ignited a young woman's clothing, leading to a harrowing struggle for survival.
- Saloon Owner Attacks Longshoreman as Crowd Watches
After a longshoreman shattered a saloon mirror, proprietor Dan McNamara beat him in the street while about thirty bystanders failed to intervene.
- The Great Sewer Struggle of 1899
Over 100 residents in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Seattle petitioned the city to stop the dumping of raw sewage into the local lakes.
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