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 | 9 |
| 1889 | 32 |
| 1891 | 13 |
| 1892 | 62 |
| 1893 | 76 |
| 1894 | 72 |
| 1895 | 77 |
341 stories matching lower
- The Skokomish River's Fury
A rapid rise and fall of water levels damages county roads and sweeps away mining camp infrastructure in Mason County.
- The Cost of Regrading Seattle
Helen Scurry fights the city for $25,000, claiming the lowering of Third Street destroyed the value of her property.
- Walla Walla Devastated by Lower Main Street Blaze
A massive fire wipes out a half-block of wooden buildings, revealing the city's total lack of adequate firefighting equipment.
- Fatal Plunge into the Tide
A runaway team forces a Seattle teamster off the unguarded planks of Commercial Street to his death.
- The Great Regrade of Commercial Street
A proposal to drop Commercial Street by ten feet to improve drainage and access.
- No Safety Net, No Ordinance: A Trapeze Act Falls in Seattle
Two acrobats plunged from a Madison Street trapeze in 1895, exposing a gap in city safety rules and a very lucky escape.
- The Night the Police Looked the Other Way
Barely a week after a showy 'raid,' five gambling houses on Washington Street were back in business — and everyone in the lower quarter knew it.
- A Low Bidder Cries Foul Over Tacoma’s New Water Pipes
Charges of inferior material and work outside the contract were briefly cleared—until affidavits from a lower bidder forced a fresh council inquiry.
- The Great Northern's Building Boom
New bricks and stone are transforming the downtown core as the Great Northern Railway’s arrival spurs a flurry of commercial construction.
- The Right to Offset Benefits in Land Seizures
A landmark Washington Supreme Court decision settles a heated dispute over whether the city can lower compensation for seized land by claiming the public improvement adds value to the owner's remaining property.
- The Saloon That Wouldn't Leave
A legal war erupts over a property lease, testing whether a landlord is responsible for ousting a tenant after selling the building.
- The City's Clever Solution for a Tricky Seattle Hillside
Engineer R.H. Thomson avoids expensive cutting by designing a split-level street for View Street, satisfying residents and the city council.
- The Scotch Sailor Boy’s Harrowing Escape
A teenage apprentice tells the tale of his brutal treatment, false imprisonment, and survival following a shipwreck in Lower California.
- White Husbands in Indigenous Communities on the Frontier
General O.O. Howard describes the precarious lives of white men who married Indigenous women in the Pacific Northwest.
- Railway Men Fight a Rate Cut to Save Their Wages
A hundred railroad employees packed a Masonic hall at Second and Pike to oppose legislation lowering freight and passenger rates, arguing that cheaper trains would mean smaller paychecks.
- Seattle’s Oysters Are Plentiful Again
As shipping and rail logistics pulse through the city in 1889, local markets report a rare dip in prices for fresh seafood.
- The Great Seattle Fire Hose Scandal of 1891
A fiery Board of Public Works meeting uncovers allegations of bribery, price-fixing, and backroom deals in the city's quest to equip its fire department.
- The Underground Opium Trade of the Pacific Northwest
As high tariffs threatened profits, British Columbia factories relied on smuggling to keep their product moving into the American market.
- The Hero of the Ferndale Disaster
When the British bark Ferndale went down in a freezing storm off the Washington coast, one local woman braved the surf to save the lives of three sailors.
- The Water That Wasn't There: Seattle's First Major Infrastructure Crisis
As the city prepares for its first major expansion, the Seattle Water Company announces a total shutdown of supply to upper levels, leaving residents and businesses in the dark.
- Coal Fall Paralyzes Wilkeson Mine Loader Thomas Smith
A coal mine loader suffers a devastating, life-altering injury on the job, highlighting the brutal risks faced by labor in late 19th-century Washington.
- The Fugitive Banker of Buckley
After wrecking a bank and fleeing to Maryland, local officials are still waiting for word on whether the disgraced financier will face justice.
- A Frontier Shooting at Martin Creek
A local woman, intoxicated and armed, wounds a bartender in a bizarre altercation.
- Smallpox Quarantine Lifted
After local health officers determined the measure was a detriment to business, Seattle residents were once again permitted to travel to Tacoma despite the lingering smallpox outbreak.
- Razor Violence in the Mascotte Saloon
An argument between two men on a Seattle sidewalk ends in a gruesome public stabbing.