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 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 8 |
| 1895 | 4 |
22 stories matching lest
- A Mountain of Coffins: Franklin Buries Its Miners
After a mine fire killed 37 men, the coal town of Franklin held a day of funerals—five graves at Black Diamond, three Italian miners on a hillside, and widows whose grief doctors feared would kill them.
- The Night a Bullet Whistled Through the Vice President’s Window
A brush with political assassination in Seattle's past—revealed only after the danger had passed.
- The Great Seattle Fire Erased Our Roots
An early record of Seattle’s vanished architecture and the displacement of its first churches following the devastating 1889 fire.
- The Great Land Grab of 1890
Official records from the Seattle land office reveal a massive migration of settlers moving into Washington’s 'virgin soil,' fueling a population boom and shifting the region's economy toward private ownership.
- The Party Says Not Guilty—and Cheers the Man It Removed
Seattle Democrats put their scandal-scarred administration on trial at Haake's Hall, buried a First Ward delegate fight, and sent David E. Durie into the mayor's race while J.M. Wolfe got the ovation.
- The Body in the Box: A Political Murder Haunts Spokane County
Charles F. Gloystein crossed the Freeman's Protective Silver Federation and disappeared. Now his neighbors are offering a $1,000 reward—not for a killer, but for the body.
- The Vanishing of Charles Gloystein and the Secret Society That Armed a County
In 1894, a Spokane County man disappeared. Rumor blamed a secret Populist order, and neighbors began answering their doors with shotguns.
- The Mayor's Embarrassing Debt
Mayor Ronald finds himself in a legal and ethical bind after borrowing $1,500 from the city's disgraced, defaulting treasurer.
- Merchants Win Trade Battle as 'Loo Sok' Docks in Seattle
A British steamer brings tea and silk to Schwabacher's wharf after Seattle merchants protest Tacoma-only landings.
- They Ran Him to Earth at Kent
After a jailbreak and a three-day manhunt, the Northwest's most wanted outlaw died in a roadside gunfight — but not before wounding one of the deputies who cornered him.
- Seattle's $100,000 Night: The Armory Meeting That Sold the Ship Canal
Boosters packed the Armory in 1895 and pledged a fortune for locks and bridges on a Lake Washington canal—payable only after a ship made the passage from Elliott Bay.
- A Saloon Brawl, a Broken Back, and a Witness Who Fled Winlock
F. M. Frost's death was ruled accidental, but a missing witness's story says Henry Dabrainer bent him backward like a jackknife and snapped his spine.
- A Mother Jumped Into a Well to Save Her Baby
Near Green Lake, a toddler fell sixteen feet into a well. Her mother lowered a too-short ladder, dropped in after her, and revived the child before help arrived.
- The Ballard Council Standoff
A Ballard councilman refuses to vacate his chair, leading to a tense and absurd political showdown.
- Smallpox, a Cover-Up, and the Threat of Quarantine on Puget Sound
Two cases surfaced near Government and Cormorant streets while Victoria's papers stayed silent; with 21 cases there and two at Snohomish, Sound cities braced to cut themselves off — and the fumigation of mail only just halted.
- The Skating Rink Panic of 1892
When a local major tried to shut down a Tacoma skating rink after a scandal involving his stepson, the local press defended the rink as a space for social independence rather than a den of iniquity.
- The Night Fort Townsend Burned
A lamp explosion, a magazine full of cartridges, and a town’s fear that the Army would leave.
- A Customs Official, a Forged Check, and the Opium Hidden in Coal-Oil Tins
Ex-immigration inspector Thomas M. Fisher was arrested at Port Townsend for allegedly forging a Canadian officer's endorsement and pocketing a $350 opium-seizure reward.
- The Great Puget Sound Whale Hunt
An unexpected visitor in the waters between Olympia and Shelton leads to a high-pressure pursuit by a local steamer.
- The Man Who Claims He Stays Young by Being Buried Alive
Alexander J. McIvor Tyndall, a traveling mystic, shares his peculiar method for achieving eternal youth and his request that doctors not perform an autopsy if he stops breathing.
- The Gendered Panic of the 1890s Labor Market
A New York report details the rising anxiety over women entering the workforce, sparking concerns about wage suppression and the stability of the 'honored institution' of marriage.
- The Terrier Who Took His Bedtime Seriously
When his mistress tried to teach a pet a lesson in discipline, the dog showed he was two steps ahead.
Also about this, in other words
- The Tragedy at the Eureka House
A woman known as Lulu May lies in critical condition following a severe alcohol-related medical emergency.