Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 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 |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 62 |
| 1889 | 89 |
| 1891 | 37 |
| 1892 | 89 |
| 1893 | 84 |
| 1894 | 68 |
| 1895 | 113 |
542 stories matching develop
- Wenatchee Residents Clash with Development Company
Town residents are resisting a development company's attempt to force the relocation of the town center to a less desirable site.
- The Day Washington Was Born: A City Holds Its Breath
As the nation celebrates statehood, Seattle gathers in a packed hall to hear speeches on liberty, land fraud, and the future of the 'Queen City.'
- The Mining Promoter Who Told Would-Be Miners to Stay Home
Col. W. Thomas Hart has bonded claims and cut a trail in the new Slate Creek district, but he begs the press not to inflate the strike: there is no work, no mill, and too much snow for prospecting.
- When Seattle Was Coal Country
A detailed 1895 survey shows King County leading Washington's coal output, with Seattle shipping fuel to California, Oregon, and the Midwest—while labor troubles and spontaneous mine fires shadowed the boom.
- The Mine That Wasn’t? A Captain Denies a Half-Million-Dollar Gold Swindle
An English capitalist’s suit against Alaska millionaires turned a Port Townsend sailing into a Pacific Coast sensation, with charges of swapped ore, gold-soaked drill cores, and a forceful denial from Capt. James Carroll.
- The Reform School With No Prison Walls
At the Washington State Reform School near Chehalis, boys and girls were trusted, taught trades, and paroled into new lives—a radical model for juvenile justice.
- The Pioneer Spirit and the Building of Seattle
A look at the ambitious civic development of Seattle's Front Street and the men behind its early transformation into a modern business hub.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- A Seattle Utopia Sold in One-Cent Shares
A society of unemployed men pools its wages and plots a Bellamy-style commonwealth of railroads, coal mines and common tables — starting from $5 of capital and 500 one-cent shares.
- The Iron Giant Lands: Moss Bay Steel Chooses Seattle Without Asking for a Penny
In a stunning victory for civic pride over corporate bribery, the massive Moss Bay Iron and Steel Company has selected Lake Washington as its site, rejecting lucrative bonuses from rival cities and the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- Seattle's 1895 Warning: Secure Cedar River Water Before Private Speculators Do
City Engineer R. H. Thomson says Seattle's overworked pumps cannot survive another summer and urges the city to buy the Cedar River watershed, dams and reservoir sites while it still can.
- Washington Lawmaker Urges Sale of Puyallup Reservation Land
Representative John L. Wilson argues that the Puyallup reservation hinders Tacoma's industrial growth, proposing the removal of restrictions on land sales to clear the way for white development.
- A $2 Million Power Plant Would Harness White River for Tacoma and Seattle
Promoters behind a New Jersey-chartered company plan a Lake Tapps reservoir and a Stuck Valley generator, aiming to power an interurban railroad and industry in Tacoma and Seattle.
- The Boom on the Sound
A look at the rapid industrial and commercial expansion of Port Townsend in 1888.
- Embezzlement Charges Close Port Angeles Bank
A local developer triggers a dramatic arrest of a bank president over a missing draft, leading to a day-long court battle and a shuttered bank.
- The Manufactured Boom of Medina
A speculative land development near Lake McMurray, Skagit County, uses a new railroad and promised natural resources to lure investors to a 'crescent' townsite.
- Seattle’s First Free Kindergarten Opens in a Remodeled South End School
A San Francisco-trained teacher, a borrowed school building, and a training school for young women launch a civic experiment in early education.
- The Battle for Wenatchee's Schoolhouse
Residents cast their votes to decide the location of a new school building, settling a divide between competing land developers.
- Seattle’s Post-Panic Pep Talk: Canals, Steel and Paved Streets
On New Year’s Day 1895, Seattle’s mayor and aldermen promised economy, railroad terminals and a Lake Washington canal—and insisted the Panic of 1893 was finally fading.
- Snohomish, 1898: A Ferry Claim Becomes a Booster's Dream City
A promotional tour of the inland Puget Sound town traces its founding by I.C. Ferguson, its lumber and fishing wages, and the railroad that turned a river landing into a self-described city of homes.
- The Library Was Not a Luxury
An 1895 editorial made the case that a free public library was civic infrastructure, not charity—and that starving it of funds betrayed the city's future.
- The Feeding Frenzy of 1889
Before the city’s meteoric rise, land developers in Seattle were already peddling the 'next big thing' across the water, promising smelters and shipyards to anyone with cash in hand.
- A Wooden Gun and a Jailbreak: The Hunt for Thomas Blanck
Nine prisoners escaped from the King County jail. Only three have been recaptured. The notorious Thomas Blanck is still at large, armed men guard the roads, and a woman's description may be the key.
- A Ghastly Discovery on Samish Island
A decomposed body found on the shores of Samish Island reveals signs of a brutal, weighted murder.
- Puyallup Land Sale Proposal Stirs Tacoma Speculators
As Tacoma developers salivated over tribal lands, a prominent Puyallup leader took his case to Washington D.C. to navigate the complex, often predatory, future of his people's property.
Also about this, in other words
- The Growing Divide: A 1889 Look at Wealth Inequality
A century before modern debates on income disparity, a Seattle newspaper reflected on a New York attorney's grim statistics concerning the extreme concentration of American wealth.
- The Dawn of the Suburban Developer in Seattle
Two young businessmen announce a new model for homeownership, pledging to clear and grade land for 'elegant homes' for the city's growing population.
- The Fight for Eminent Domain and the Rise of Local Improvement Districts
The City Council debates a controversial proposal to empower the city to condemn land for public improvements, sparking fears of 'jobbery and corruption.'
- A Child’s Fall into a City Excavation
A young girl’s tumble into a construction pit sparks a damages lawsuit against an investment firm.
- A Farmer Dams a Ditch, and Neighbors Build a Dike
In the town of Tolt, a landowner’s waterway blockade turns into a muddy standoff, with farmers throwing up dikes to keep their fields from flooding.
- The Pioneer Developer Building the Future of Downtown Seattle
As Seattle grapples with rapid growth and a critical shortage of hotels for visiting businessmen, pioneer Dexter Horton announces a major new business block on Cherry Street.