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.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1882 | 9 |
| 1883 | 58 |
| 1884 | 36 |
| 1885 | 89 |
| 1886 | 48 |
| 1887 | 53 |
293 stories matching clock
- The Clock That Kept Time in the Ruins
When the Oriental Hotel burned, a single clock was found ticking away on a charred wall amidst the wreckage.
- The Great 1885 Tax Liquidation
A sweeping list of unpaid property taxes in 1880s Seattle reveals the names of the city's early developers and the precarious reality of holding land in a young frontier town.
- The Ten-Hour Day comes to Port Gamble
A major mill company unilaterally reduces labor hours without cutting pay, setting a new industry standard in the Puget Sound.
- The Great Horse Heist of South Tacoma
A doctor's horse is snatched from a storefront and recovered miles away in the timber.
- The Great April Snowstorm of 1885
A record-breaking blizzard buries Seattle, collapsing roofs across the territory and disrupting the spring thaw.
- The Oriental Hotel Burns to the Ground
A pre-dawn fire claims a downtown landmark, leaving one man severely injured and a widow without her business.
- The Dark Perils of the Tide Flats
A lonely worker from a nearby lumber camp is found drowned after losing his way in the pitch-black darkness near the waterfront.
- The Seattle Mill Strike of 1885
When the Yesler Mill announced sudden wage cuts, the workers staged a walkout that paralyzed the waterfront.
- The Ill-Fated Voyage of the Steamship Mexico
A bustling Puget Sound steamer, laden with coal and passengers, runs aground in the thick fog near Nanaimo, leaving the crew and longshoremen to face a watery disaster.
- The Wild West of Clock-Watching in Seattle
Before standardized time zones arrived in Seattle, residents had to contend with a city where every jeweler and church bell kept their own schedule.
- The Seventy-Round Brawl at Black Diamond
A high-stakes prize fight between Billy Lynn and Daws ended in a bitter, disputed referee decision after four hours of grueling combat in the mining camp.
- A Custody Dispute Leads to Arrest
A domestic conflict over child custody results in a dramatic arrest at Port Madison and a legal battle in Seattle.
- The Night the Milton Sawmill Burned
A late-night inferno consumes local businesses and a storehouse, leaving a rural community in financial ruin with no insurance to soften the blow.
- The Tragedy at the Cabin
A pioneer settler is found dead in his home after a brutal struggle, sparking a local manhunt near Colfax.
- The Ghost Railroad of Seattle
Prominent investors toured the idle 'Shore Line' road, leaving locals to wonder if the long-stalled project would ever serve the city or just provide firewood.
- The Great Escape at Steilacoom
Five convicts at the state penitentiary staged a daring, daylight breakout, leading to a desperate shootout in the woods.
- The Miners at Newcastle Demand Fair Time
Workers at the Newcastle coal mine initiate a strike over wage-deduction schemes and travel time between the town and the pit.
- The Unprecedented Heatwave of 1887
As temperatures soared to over 100 degrees, Seattle grappled with a record-breaking heat spell that left dozens dead and the city in a state of exhaustion.
- The Boys of Summer: Seattle’s First Big Baseball Victory
In a 1887 showdown at the local race track, a crowd of 400 gathered to watch the hometown nine clobber the visitors from the Willamette Valley.
- 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.
- Seattle's First Electric Streetcar Test
An experimental electric motor pulls a coach with thirty passengers up a steep incline in a successful trial run.
- The Final Voyage of the Wildwood
A steamship captain recounts the harrowing night his vessel burned to the water’s edge while docked at Olympia.
- The Acquittal of John Williams
A jury exonerates a man accused of killing William Lockenfritz, accepting a plea of self-defense.
- An 1885 Delegation's 'Grand Tour' of Seattle
When a Portland delegation arrived in Seattle by steamer in July 1885, they were treated to an opulent tour of the town, a clambake at Port Blakely, and a glowing review in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
- The Morning the Earth Shook in Seattle
An unusually violent tremor rattles early risers in 1886, marking a moment of shared alarm in the developing town.