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 | 11 |
| 1877 | 13 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1880 | 1 |
32 stories matching equal
- The Great Coal Tariff Debate
An 1876 editorial argues for high protectionist tariffs on coal to shield Puget Sound mining wages from foreign competition and low-wage labor.
- The Unchecked Ambitions of 1878 Seattle
A prophetic editorial from the Intelligencer reveals how early leaders envisioned Seattle as the industrial and commercial juggernaut of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Miracle Paint of 1876
Before modern synthetic coatings, a Seattle merchant promised a 'Rubber Paint' that would outlast the standard lead and oil of the frontier era.
- The 'Bear of Third Street' Prank
A group of rowdy boys in 1880s Seattle found a cruel way to terrorize women walking home alone at night.
- 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 Price of Education: Seattle Schools in Crisis
When the School Board looked to rent space from the University of Washington to ease overcrowding, they were met with a rental demand that signaled the end of public space as a bargain.
- The Forgotten Ballot for Women’s Suffrage in Washington
In 1878, Washington Territory’s proposed constitution contained specific articles to enfranchise women and restrict the sale of liquor, marking a radical early push for civic equality.
- The Artist and the Terrier: A Seattle Romance
A down-and-out clerk uses his only asset—a well-trained terrier—to win the favor of a grumpy painter and the hand of his beloved in 1870s Seattle.
- The 1877 Argument to Run Seattle Like a Corporation
A fiery editorial from the Daily Intelligence argues that municipal voting should be tied to property ownership, mirroring the management of railroads and banks.
- The Coal Rush: How 1876 Industry Linked Seattle and Tacoma
A historic editorial argues that the expansion of Northern Pacific Railroad coal lines from Puyallup will drive mutual prosperity for Seattle and its southern neighbor.
- The Giant of Wawawai
A crew grading a road near the Snake River unearths the remains of a man estimated to be thirty feet tall.
- The Perils of Seattle's Cherry Street
In 1877, a local editor called out the city for the dangerous sidewalks and 'savory' sewage runoff plaguing one of Seattle’s most elegant residential streets.
- The Struggle for a Fire-Proof Seattle
In 1876, a local editor warns that Seattle’s reliance on wood-frame architecture is a dangerous gamble for a growing city.
- Seattle Investors Plan a Boot Factory and Tannery
Before tech and aerospace, Seattle’s business elite plotted to stop shipping raw hides to San Francisco and instead build a city of tanneries and shoe factories.
- British Co-operative Building and the Goal of Homeownership
Before the age of the modern mortgage, Seattle’s early pioneers looked toward international cooperative building societies to help working citizens plant roots in the city.
- The Price of Injustice: Seattle’s Jailhouse Debt
A messy legal arbitration reveals how King County’s jail construction spiraled into a financial debacle—and why the city's approach to housing prisoners remained a 'miserable farce.'
- The Unseen Economic Power of Puget Sound Timber
A local editor argues that Seattle shouldn't rely on distant furniture imports when the region is literally throwing away the raw materials for a thriving local industry.
- The Unsettled Presidency of 1876
As the nation grappled with a deadlocked electoral count in the Hayes-Tilden election, Seattle residents read a deep-dive analysis of the constitutional chaos and the risk of a political breakdown.
- The Sailor Who Mapped the Sound
Rear-Admiral Charles Wilkes, whose 1841 expedition gave Elliott Bay its name and helped secure the Oregon Territory for the United States, has passed away at 76.
- Puget Sound Herring Fisheries Need Capital and Experience
A local editor argues that Seattle’s budding herring industry is destined to become a global titan—if only local businessmen would stop throwing away the fertilizer.
- The Radical Doctor of Seattle
An 1876 lecture at the local Opera House challenges the city's elites, railing against the morality of wealth, the indignity of labor, and the hypocrisy of the church.
- The 1878 Dream of Building Societies
A look at the early mutual loan movement, promising that the average working man could escape the cycle of high rent and finally own his home.
- 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.
- The Unstoppable Rail Builder of 1877
How James M. Colman bet his personal fortune to push the Seattle & Walla Walla Railroad through the mountains, defying skeptics and funding the project on his own terms.
- The Rambling Village That Wanted to Be a City
An 1876 editorial reflects on Seattle’s humble, sprawling aesthetic, arguing that the lack of architectural grandeur was not a failure of taste, but a deliberate, democratic strategy to avoid the 'unhealthy' wealth concentration of Eastern cities.