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 |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 38 |
| 1877 | 28 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1880 | 3 |
74 stories matching amount
- The 'Vanity Fair' Lottery Scandal
When a Seattle game of chance faced accusations of fraud, the proprietor was forced to defend his honor in the pages of the local press.
- The Missing Payday at the First Seattle Railroad
Workers on the nascent Seattle and Walla Walla Railroad staged a walkout after a payroll error left them empty-handed.
- The Beach Road That Wasn't: Seattle’s First Infrastructure Crisis
In May 1877, the *Seattle Daily Intelligencer* sounded the alarm over the deteriorating condition of the city's primary artery to the waterfront, blaming poor drainage and a lack of gravel for turning the vital thoroughfare into a muddy trough.
- The Strange Disappearance of George Clark
A local merchant vanishes from Steilacoom, leaving behind $5,000 in debts and unpaid laborers.
- Domestic Violence in 1878 Seattle
A man is fined for a violent assault on his partner, highlighting the grim reality behind the era's dismissive legal language.
- The Promised Land of North River
A booster advertisement in 1878 paints the North River Valley as a hidden agricultural utopia awaiting two hundred families.
- General Howard’s Seattle Revival
The Civil War general takes the pulpit to debate the 'infidelity' of the American West.
- The Wettest Spring in Memory: Walla Walla’s Deluge and the Rainbow That Spanned Mountains
While Seattle residents fret over rain cisterns, neighbors to the east endure a historic deluge that has delayed planting and produced a rare midnight rainbow stretching from the Cascades to the Columbia.
- Seattle’s First Great Infrastructure Boom
An 1877 report captures a young Seattle at a crossroads, boasting of massive rail investments and its first-ever public spending on city grading, setting a precedent for a city that never stops building.
- The County Printing War: Seattle's Oldest Paper Claims Moral High Ground in Bid for Public Contracts
In May 1877, the publisher of Seattle’s leading newspaper defends his bid for county printing contracts against rivals who accused him of greed, arguing that 'the laborer is worthy of his hire' and that public money should support a responsible local press.
- 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 Auditor and the Sheriff: A Public Spat Over Corruption
In the lead-up to the 1876 election, a public war of words between King County's Auditor and former Sheriff exposes the messy, opaque, and highly questionable state of territorial bookkeeping.
- The Great Walla Walla Freshet of 1876
After unseasonable rains decimated the region's infrastructure, locals wondered if a waterspout had carved a path of destruction through the mountains.
- The Crackdown on 'Fast Riding' in Old Seattle
When rowdy horsemen turned Front Street into a racetrack, the city police decided the era of reckless riding in the city center had to end.
- The Unsung Pioneers Clearing the Skagit River
While the territory hailed the opening of the Skagit Valley to navigation, the men bankrolling the arduous labor of clearing the massive log jam were left bankrupt.
- The $100-a-Month Bosses: Mining Executives Earn More Than Presidents
A new report reveals that the average salary of mining officials in Washington Territory is $100 per month—double that of state legislators and far exceeding the wages of the men who dig the ore.
- The Farming Pioneer of Protection Island
A bold settler bets on agriculture in the San Juan Islands, finding a thriving home where others saw only isolation.
- The Postmaster’s Plight: A Decades-Long Betrayal in Skagit County
In the midst of a national economic depression, a respected elder and long-serving postmaster in Mount Vernon faces federal fraud charges, sparking a community debate over loyalty versus law.
- The Jailhouse Audit: Seattle's 1877 Infrastructure Battle
Before the city's modern boom, King County commissioners were locked in a tense legal standoff over the construction costs of the local jail.
- The Charred Remains of a Pioneer: A Tragic Fire on Commercial Street
In the early days of Seattle, fire was the city's greatest enemy. On October 6, 1876, a blaze swept through the heart of the business district, claiming the life of a man named Hilder and destroying property near Jamison & Prescott.
- Seattle’s First City Hall: A $500 Bill for Front Street
In September 1876, the fledgling city council authorized a payment to George Edwards for rebuilding the cribbing and earthworks on Front Street, marking one of the earliest municipal infrastructure contracts in Seattle's history.
- The Duwamish River's Unexpected Log-Clearing Service
A winter flood on the Duwamish River brought chaos to local farmland, but farmers found a silver lining in the disaster.
- The School Budget Crisis of 1877
Seattle’s public schools faced a complete shutdown due to a $1,500 deficit, forcing local leaders to choose between debt, taxes, or cutting the school year short.
- The Great Fill: Seattle’s First Major Land Reclamation and the Fight for White Labor
In October 1876, workers are frantically raising Front Street to save it from the Duwamish River. The local press frames this massive public works project not just as engineering, but as a moral victory for 'white labor' over cheap Chinese competition.
- The River’s Toll on the Timber Trade
A sudden freshet on the White River washes away over 150,000 feet of logs, devastating local lumber operators and scattering timber as far as Smith’s Cove.