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 |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 11 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 22 |
| 1893 | 17 |
| 1894 | 27 |
| 1895 | 26 |
113 stories matching error
- Spokane Shut Out in Tacoma Baseball Blowout
A combination of pitching woes, defensive errors, and a fined player turned a highly anticipated match into a lopsided victory for Tacoma.
- The Ghost of a Property Blunder
Years after a land sale to the federal government for a Seattle lighthouse, officials find a clerical error that threatens the entire title to the property.
- The City’s Botched Annexation Plan
Seattle’s attempt to annex surrounding lands hits a legal wall after a drafting error excludes parts of Ballard by mistake.
- The Expensive Cipher Mistake That Rocked Colfax
A bungled telegram message causes a small-town grain buyer to accidentally trigger a massive payout to local farmers.
- A Century of Title Confusion
A high-stakes legal battle begins to untangle property deeds in a neighborhood whose identity was lost in a clerical error.
- Freed on a Technicality After a Year in the Penitentiary
A Whatcom forger walks out of the Walla Walla prison because the judge who corrected his sentence did so without him in the room.
- Seattle’s Sewer Construction Hits a Wall
A report from the City Engineer exposes significant budget overruns and administrative errors in the 1893 sewer bond projects, forcing an immediate halt to construction.
- The Price of a Clerical Error
A contractor’s slip of the pen costs him a major city street grading contract.
- A One-Letter Typo That Cost a Telegraph Giant $6,000
A misplaced 'a' in a cable address sent a lumber shipment's sale instructions to the wrong man, and a Seattle jury made Western Union pay.
- The Supreme Court Says Willie Holmes Must Hang
A Franklin coal-town killing on pay day, a jailbreak during the Jerry Sherry escape, and a last appeal that dies on technicalities — the state's highest court affirms the death sentence for a young Black miner.
- Seattle's Mayor Vetoes Boiler Safety Bill Over a Clerical Error
Mayor J. T. Ronald sends a steam-boiler inspection ordinance back to the House of Delegates because a duplicated section would not survive court—and warns that a $3 inspection fee has already stirred opposition.
- The Great Assessment Scam: How King County Taxpayers Were Fooled by 'Blunders'
A local reporter exposes the absurdity of county tax assessments, where landowners receive notices for huge back-taxes on property they already paid off, forcing them to chase down exhausted commissioners in a cycle of bureaucratic error.
- A Missing Clause Stalls the Road Through the Cascades
Whatcom and Skagit expected a governor's commission and an early start. The enrolled bill in Olympia had lost its emergency clause, and the delay was already being blamed on the wrong people.
- The Great Rainier Climbing Debate
A classic Pacific Northwest squabble over who actually reached the summit of Mount Rainier first.
- A Case of Mistaken Identity in Aberdeen
Former city marshal William H. Pearson clears his name after a newspaper report falsely linked him to an embezzlement scandal.
- The Great Hop Correction: A Merchant’s Penny and the Price of Truth
In a rare moment of journalistic humility, local merchants publicly corrected a previous error regarding hop prices, revealing the volatile nature of Seattle’s agricultural trade in February 1903.
- The Mayor's Report Card
The Post-Intelligencer critiques Mayor Ronald's annual message, specifically challenging his claims regarding police success and municipal debt.
- The Waterworks Breakdown
A comedy of errors at the Spring Hill pumping station leaves Seattle thirsty after engineers fall ill.
- The Embezzling 'Sport' Walks Free
A technical error in the wording of an indictment leads to the dismissal of charges against Elmer Mayberry, a well-known local gambler.
- Seattle's Nonpareils Outplay Tacoma in a Thrilling Baseball Match
The junior champions of the Northwest dominated Tacoma with professional teamwork and acrobatic fielding, thrilling a crowd at Madison Street ball park.
- The Wreck of the Brittain
A maritime expert surveys the remains of a vessel lost on the rocks, detailing the disastrous navigation error that caused the sinking.
- A Bungled Case of Robbery and Bad Paperwork
A classic instance of municipal incompetence led to suspected robbers walking free after their bail money was returned due to a clerical error in the police department.
- A Deadly Error on Lopez Island
A 70-year-old man, a repeat offender in accidental shootings, is critically wounded after being mistaken for a deer in a fern patch.
- The Unintended Neighborhood
Survey errors leave houses in the middle of streets and neighbors at odds over property lines.
- The Morning After: A Local Scandal Retraction
The Press-Times finds itself in an awkward tangle, celebrating its own bold reporting of a poisoning plot before immediately disavowing the accusations as 'too absurd for belief.'