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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 20 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1891 | 7 |
| 1892 | 42 |
| 1893 | 57 |
| 1894 | 35 |
| 1895 | 36 |
215 stories
- The Estate That Outran Its Will
A New York inheritance officer comes to Port Townsend to sort out Ansel White's estate, where a will written before the money arrived may leave dozens of cousins fighting over a fortune.
- The Corpse in the Drifting Boat
A body found in an open boat in the Strait of Juan de Fuca leads authorities to a sealing schooner and a missing companion. Was it murder, or did both men drown?
- The Tailor’s Basket: A Drunkard’s Violent Encounter with a Chinese Laundryman
In the tense racial climate of late-19th century Port Townsend, an intoxicated tailor attempted to pick a fight with a Chinese immigrant, only to be knocked unconscious by his own laundry basket.
- The Unintended Voyage of a Victoria Day Excursionist
A man looking to celebrate the Queen's birthday ends up on an accidental odyssey across international waters after being denied passage on a ferry.
- The Unlucky Travelers of the Puget Sound
A small steamer encounters the harsh realities of the Sound, leaving passengers stranded in the fog.
- The Hunter Hunted: A Seattle Man Shot for a Bear
A Seattle man traveling to Port Townsend to file for government land is mistaken for a bear and shot by a school teacher in the dense brush.
- The Teen Bride and the Soldier
A seventeen-year-old in Port Townsend seeks a trade: her marriage certificate for a new license.
- The Shocking State of the Port Townsend Courthouse
A dangerous electrical grounding issue in the county building leaves water pipes charged with current.
- 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 Rough Arrival from Yokohama
The steamer Crown of England arrives in Puget Sound after a harrowing 23-day voyage marked by mechanical failures and a violent 26-hour gale.
- The Strange 'Living' Well of Port Townsend
A dry well dug in an addition to Port Townsend acts as a natural, pneumatic barometer, baffling local scientists.
- The Boomtown Delusion of Port Townsend
In the late 1880s, Port Townsend boosters scrambled to convince the world that their city was destined to be the 'Frisco' of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Price of a Hand: A Labor Settlement in Port Townsend
A longshoreman injured while unloading cargo from the steamship Walla Walla receives a court-ordered settlement, highlighting the physical dangers of 19th-century maritime work.
- Tragedy in the Bay: A Fatal Scuffle at Port Townsend
A playful afternoon turned fatal when a young sailor fell from his boat and vanished into the waters of Port Townsend Bay.
- The Mysterious Death of a 'Well-Known Character'
When Mary Todhunter was found dead in a locked room in New Westminster, her complicated past as an alleged heiress and runaway brought a dark local scandal to the surface.
- Smallpox Scare Hits Victoria
Conflicting reports over an outbreak in British Columbia lead to heightened health screenings at the border and anxiety in Puget Sound towns.
- One Customs Job, Two Promises, and a Party on the Brink
A federal patronage fight between John Collins and Hugh Wallace, layered atop a King County apportionment grab, had Republicans threatening an open row in Tacoma.
- The Bering Sea's Brazen Seal Poachers, as Told by a Port Townsend Captain
A sealing schooner back from five months in the Bering Sea describes a coordinated scheme of lookouts, false alibis and cached skins used to outwit the revenue cutters.
- A Port Townsend Lawyer Vanishes Without a Trace
Capt. George H. Jones, a constitutional convention delegate and Republican county leader, had been missing for days when his family's Puget Sound search came up empty.
- Political Uprising at the Port Townsend Democratic Club
A planned 'indignation meeting' against the local customs collector backfires, leading to a party coup and the removal of the club's president.
- Port Townsend Vows Boycott Over Tacoma's Dry Dock Gambit
The Key City accuses its rival to the south of sabotaging its bid for a stationary dry dock — and threatens to take its trade to Portland and San Francisco instead.
- Offices for a Senate Vote: The Backroom Deal in Jefferson County
A Democratic leader offers Populists half the county offices — and a customs-house appointment — if they will help elect Hugh Wallace to the U.S. Senate. Even party regulars call it a disgrace.
- The Postmaster’s Patronage Problem: Civil Service Warns Port Townsend
Postmaster McNamara threatened to replace Port Townsend’s post office staff with loyal Democrats. The Civil Service Commission warned that patronage could cost him personally—and cited a Pennsylvania postmaster who paid $600 out of pocket.
- The $3,000 Health Office That Vanished
A lawsuit between rival health officers ends with a lucrative post abolished and steamship companies refusing to pay for certificates they never legally owed.
- The Flat-Iron, the Umbrella, and the Inkstand: A Port Townsend Divorce Suit
J. K. Meyer's divorce petition turns a respectable Port Townsend marriage into a catalogue of thrown household goods, alleged affairs, and very public embarrassment.