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 |
|---|---|
| 1899 | 54 |
54 stories matching room
- The Hello Girls of Seattle: Inside the City’s First Telephone Exchange
A rare architectural tour reveals the inner workings of the new Bell Building on Third Avenue, where thirty young women manage the city's voice network through a complex web of wires and switchboards.
- The University’s $230,000 Gamble: New Dorms Rise Where the Race Track Once Roared
As Seattle prepares for its first university opening in the fall, Regents approve plans for massive brick dormitories on the edge of town, signaling a shift from frontier outpost to academic hub.
- The Overcoat Thief Is at Work in This City
A wave of coat thefts sweeps through Seattle hotels and lodgings; one suspect is caught red-handed with a warrant.
- Tragedy on 14th Avenue
A quiet domestic life ends in despair as a Seattle man takes his own life following a long struggle with illness.
- The Dock That Swallowed Five: A Narrow Escape on Madison Street
In a sudden collapse that sent debris crashing into the Sound, five people survived by inches when a poorly constructed lunchroom and menagerie annex gave way beneath them.
- The King Who Played Poker with the Speaker
King Edward VII’s legendary skill at the card table reveals a surprising side of the British monarch during his 1905 American tour.
- The Rent Trap: Why Seattle's Business District Is Running Out of Room
As the city booms post-fire, merchants find themselves priced out of First Avenue, forced to migrate up Third and beyond in a desperate search for affordable space.
- The Heat That Broke the Girls: A Seattle Summer of Hysteria
In June 1902, a sweltering afternoon in downtown Seattle turned a garment factory into a scene of mass panic as workers collapsed from heat prostration.
- The Grand Ambitions of the Denny Hotel
After nine years of fits and starts, one of the largest hotels on the Pacific Coast is finally set to open its doors in Seattle.
- The Last Pioneer: Seattle’s Oldest Woman Faces the Poorhouse
Mrs. P.D. Maynard, a widow of the city's founding era, has been evicted from her rooming house and is now wandering the streets at age 73. With no family and dwindling resources, the community must decide whether to let one of Seattle’s earliest residents die in poverty or build her a home.
- The Birth of the Seattle Stock Exchange
Promoters establish a new financial hub on the corner of First and Spring, promising a 'pure' exchange for the benefit of the city rather than the few.
- The Klondike Gold Rush Riches Arrive in Seattle
As the ship Humboldt docks, a massive influx of gold and weary prospectors pours into the city, fueling local speculation and excitement.
- The Chambermaid’s Lock: A Seattle Hotel Guest’s Brutal Mistake
When a wealthy Chicago businessman accidentally locked himself in his hotel room and then roughed up the maid who tried to help him, he found himself facing a $10,000 lawsuit for assault.
- The Floating Poker Game Fleecing Klondike Gold Miners
Returning prospectors, heavy with gold and exhaustion, were systematically targeted by a professional gambling syndicate on the passenger steamers coming into Seattle.
- The Klondike Gold Rush Gamble
A prospector returns from the North with a fortune only to be cleaned out at a downtown Seattle hotel.
- The Woman Who Swore on Dynamite: A Spokane Courtroom Shock
In a rare moment of courtroom gravity, a female defendant in Spokane was asked to place her hand on dynamite instead of the Bible for her oath—leaving the room in profound silence.
- The Industrial Grasp on Public Space
A Seattle business owner petitions to close a city block to make room for his growing lumber factory, sparking a debate on private gain versus public infrastructure.
- The Man Who Cut Off His Own Foot
Desperate and denied by surgeons, a young Washington man performs a self-amputation with a pocketknife to save his life.
- The $200,000 Gold Rush: Klondikers Pour Into Seattle
As the steamer *Dingo* docks with a fortune in gold dust, local officials and merchants brace for an influx of wealth that could reshape the city's economy.
- The Tragedy at Yesler Way: A Lawyer’s Death and a Woman’s Despair
In May 1904, prominent Seattle lawyer J. Wile was fatally shot by Miss Burke, who then took her own life in a rooming house near the waterfront.
- The Night the Burglar Lost His Shoes: A Seattle Thief Flees in Stockings
A daring break-in at a Bell Street laundry ends in farce when the thief is spotted before he can steal anything, forcing him to flee barefoot and leaving behind his footwear as evidence.
- The Day the City Council Abandoned Seattle for Cedar Lake
In a bizarre twist of municipal governance, Mayor Curry, Comptroller Parry, and Engineer Thompson fled downtown to inspect water pollution at Frankson’s Cedar Lake, leaving the city’s daily operations in limbo.
- The Last Stand of Denny’s Old Home: A Seattle Landmark Consumed by Fire
One of the city's oldest structures, a cedar-built house on Second Avenue, was reduced to ashes early this morning. The blaze, sparked by a fallen lamp in the room of a shoe company employee, claimed the home of Mrs. Kali Palmer and her children, who barely escaped through the roof.
- The Mobbing of the Moralizers
When four prominent temperance leaders and a local businessman tried to close down a suspected illegal saloon, they were met on the street and pelted with rotten eggs.
- The Great Seattle Housing Shortage: Capital Calls for Action
As the city prepares for an influx of eastern investors and federal funds, local real estate agents report a desperate scramble for medium-sized homes, with rents soaring and supply critically low.