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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 6 |
| 1889 | 15 |
| 1891 | 8 |
| 1892 | 26 |
| 1893 | 27 |
| 1894 | 29 |
| 1895 | 3 |
114 stories matching key
- The Jailbreak That Almost Toppled the Penitentiary
A clever prisoner uses his talent for locksmithing to craft duplicate keys, nearly sparking a mass escape at the Walla Walla prison.
- The $6,000 Wallet That Vanished From Under a Pillow
Milton Wood locked his door at the Vendome, left his pocketbook under his pillow, and woke to find $6,000 in cash and notes gone—with no sign of forced entry.
- The Jailhouse Performance of an Insanity Faker
A man accused of horse theft attempts a desperate, bumbling ruse to avoid trial by feigning madness, only to be caught plotting his escape with stolen keys.
- Tension Rises at the Cœur d'Alene Reservation Border
Farmers near Fairfield arm themselves as a series of skirmishes leaves both Indigenous residents and white settlers fearing violence.
- The Cipher and the Confession: Louis Kostrauch’s Cold-Blooded Gamble
After allegedly faking a death and burning a house to escape a life of poverty, a conspirator explains how a forgotten cipher key and a betrayal of trust landed him in the Seattle city jail.
- Aeronaut Injured in Madison Street Park Accident
Hazel Keyes, a professional parachute jumper, was severely injured after a failed balloon ascent dragged her across a fence.
- The Jailer Lost the Key
A murder trial in Kitsap County is stalled after a clumsy jailer heads downtown with the only key to the prisoner's cell.
- The Death-Defying Leap at Madrona Park
A daredevil aerialist and a monkey perform a high-altitude parachute jump over Lake Washington, drawing a massive, cheering crowd.
- The Unclaimed Dead of Lake Union
A morning discovery at a local boat house reveals the lonely, anonymous death of a Prussian immigrant, underscoring the precarity of life in a booming frontier city.
- The Key-House Raid: Seattle Police Break Up a Gambling Club
Chief Rogers raided the Union Club in the Cobb Block, seizing 1,150 chips and 63 decks of cards—and arresting two men who each claimed to be in charge.
- The Skeleton Key Gang
A trio of young boys is arrested for a string of lodging-house thefts using stolen keys.
- The Lawyer Locked Out
A prominent Tacoma politician finds himself stranded on the street in his gym clothes after a drafty gymnasium door leaves him quite exposed.
- A House of Prayer for All the Nations
In 1892, Seattle's Congregation Ohaveth Sholom dedicated the first Jewish synagogue in Washington, filling the new sanctuary at Seventh and Seneca with Jews and Gentiles and with sermons that insisted the building must be more than stone and gold.
- The Three-Way Split: How Bitter Feuds Carved Eastern Washington
In January 1891, the state legislature dissolved Lincoln County into three new entities—Grant, Big Bend, and remaining Lincoln—to settle a decades-long battle over county seats that once involved armed men holding courthouse keys.
- The Boomtown That Expected to Replace Seattle
In 1888, the 'Key City' of Port Townsend was convinced its massive rail subsidy and harbor status would make it the primary metropolis of the Pacific Northwest.
- Midnight Robbers Rule the Streets
A wave of armed robberies plagues Seattle, leaving citizens wary and police in pursuit of a gang masking themselves with skeleton keys and spare rags.
- The Great Cigar Heist of Third Street
A burglar uses skeleton keys to bypass a shop lock, proving that even petty thieves in 1894 had expensive, specific tastes.
- The Boomtown That Expected to Be 'The Next San Francisco'
In 1888, the 'Key City' of Port Townsend was so convinced of its impending status as a transcontinental rail terminus that it began feverishly selling off the entire landscape.
- The Man Who Couldn't Be Named: A Mysterious Suicide on Pike Street
In the early hours of a Seattle morning in 1902, a barkeeper discovers a stranger dead in his room with no ID and a note addressed to 'Joe.' The city is left with a body, a mystery, and a morphine bottle.
- The Flying-Machine Inventor Who Vanished and Left the Carpenter Unpaid
An Englishman named Howard hired a Tacoma carpenter to build a “living machine,” then disappeared with the key to the storeroom—leaving a very anxious workman and a mysterious apparatus.
- The Hotel Thief Who Slept Under the Same Roof He Robbed
Sat Sanguinetti begged the Rainier Hotel's manager for a place to sleep, then used a skeleton key to strip its guests of diamonds and gold — until a private watchman caught him red-handed.
- The Tragedy on the Everett Docks
A body pulled from the river identified by a simple metal tag on a key ring.
- The Failed Prison Escape of Sam Murphy
A notorious burglar's attempt to break free while being transported to Walla Walla is thwarted by a tip-off.
- The Neighbors Saw Him Leave at Dawn
A Seattle divorce trial turned on back-alley sightings, a borrowed key, and an aging co-respondent who came and went at all hours.
- The Mystery of the Oyster Creek John Doe
An unknown man is discovered dead in the rocks at Oyster Creek with curious items in his pockets, including a Canadian quarter and a padlock key.