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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1888 | 24 |
| 1889 | 49 |
| 1891 | 24 |
| 1892 | 76 |
| 1893 | 80 |
| 1894 | 101 |
| 1895 | 163 |
517 stories matching record
- The Sound's Long Memory for Rain
While storms rattle the nerves of new arrivals, an old-timer’s meticulous forty-year record shows the 1894 weather is nothing compared to the '63 deluge.
- State Land Board Begins Overhaul of Public Records
A newly formed commission finds local records missing and incomplete, setting the stage for a Supreme Court battle over tide land rights.
- A Record-Breaking Excursion to the Capital
A crowded steamer makes a record run from Seattle to Olympia, straining the capital's housing capacity.
- The Fire-Burned Tax Records
City Treasurer Krug struggles to process property deeds because the original delinquent tax rolls were lost in the Great Seattle Fire.
- The Hidden Mortgage Loophole
A new judicial ruling surprises attorneys and lenders by declaring that assigned mortgages do not need to be filed on record.
- The Case of the Tampered Transcript
A legal battle over a contested election takes a dark turn when unauthorized documents appear in the official court record.
- The State’s Missing Death Records
A scathing report reveals that county officials across Washington are failing to report thousands of deaths, leaving the state’s vital records in a state of 'gross negligence.'
- Wood & Osborne Bring Order to Washington Territory Deeds
As Seattle's property market surged, the city's premier title firm was forced to expand its operations to keep up with the frantic pace of land speculation.
- The Art of the Legislative Dodge
A blistering political attack on a gubernatorial candidate accused of cowardice and 'dodging' his duties in the state house.
- Zoe Gayton Bets the World She Can Walk It — Then Cheats at the First Tunnel
A week out of Seattle on her round-the-world wager, the pedestrian record-breaker was told she could not walk the two miles of the Northern Pacific's Stampede Tunnel. A locomotive pulled up. Everybody swore secrecy. A newspaper man heard anyway.
- A Missing Deed, Twenty Years of Possession, and a Lot in Denny’s Lands
A Seattle quiet-title case turned on record deeds, an unrecorded sale, and two brick buildings—and the plaintiff won.
- The Barn That Was a Courthouse: King County’s Shameful Jail and Office Conditions
An editorial exposé reveals that King County’s records are stored in a 'mere barn' and prisoners live in conditions 'a disgrace to a humane community,' urging the sale of bonds for new buildings.
- The Arsonist Who Burned the Books: A Tacoma Cover-Up?
An attempt to torch the U.S. Custom House in Port Townsend raises eyebrows as officials fear a whistleblower’s evidence of corruption was destroyed.
- A Frontier Education: The Struggles of Washington's Early Schools
State Superintendent R.B. Bryan reflects on the chaotic, underfunded, and record-sparse beginnings of Washington’s school system.
- The Morning the Graphophone Spoke
A group of Seattle scientists and journalists gathered in 1888 to witness the wonders of Thomas Edison's new 'graphophone' recording device, marveling at its ability to capture and reproduce human speech.
- The Great Seattle Land Rush: How 1890 Rewrote the Map
Newly unearthed records from 1890 show a city transforming through massive real estate speculation, where plots bought for hundreds were suddenly worth tens of thousands.
- The Mortgage Hangover: Seattle’s Post-Fire Reckoning
A federal census agent tallies the heavy toll of reconstruction, revealing how the city’s rapid rebuilding after the Great Fire of 1889 fueled a massive wave of high-interest debt.
- Bellingham Bay's Monster Starfish
A local fisherman hauls in a record-breaking sea creature from the pilings of an old wharf.
- Seattle’s Burglary Panic Didn’t Survive the Record Book
Police Chief Rogers pushed back on calls to expand the force, producing department figures that showed theft reports down by half—and blamed the rest on sneak thieves rather than professionals.
- The Great Timber Rush: Seattle's Lumber Boom of 1892
A record-breaking export season for Puget Sound mills reveals the friction between burgeoning local production and the crippling cost of rail freight.
- The Tide Land Freeze: Ballard’s Waterfront Plats Go to Court
A judge restrains appraisers from filing supplemental tide-land plats as landowners, the state land commission and the county auditor fight over who controls the shore.
- One Day Late: The Veto That May Hang a Man
A clerk's date stamp, a messenger who cannot recall which day he ran an errand, and a condemned Italian at Tacoma whose last chance at a new appeal may have expired in the paperwork.
- The World-Traveling Catcher
Before major league stardom, Billy Earle brought baseball to the pyramids of Egypt and the streets of Rome.
- The Shortest Divorce Case on Record
Following a tragic loss in the family, a quarreling couple returns to court to finalize their separation with surprising speed.
- The Great Port Townsend Customs Scandal
A federal grand jury uncovers a decade-long scheme of extortion and record-tampering at the Port Townsend custom house, where officials pocketed fees and forced local shipping firms to play along.