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.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 7 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 20 |
| 1893 | 21 |
| 1894 | 9 |
| 1895 | 12 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 3 |
| 1904 | 11 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
125 stories matching alter
- Fire Trap Expansions at the Globe Hotel
Tacoma building inspectors are ignoring unauthorized, illegal additions to a notorious downtown lodging house.
- The Wage Suit That Ended With Altered Receipts and a Vanished Proprietor
A Paris restaurant worker sues for unpaid wages; the defense produces receipts that the plaintiffs say were doctored, and the proprietor slips away to California.
- City Hall Showdown: Council and Reformers Clash Over Charter Revision
A heated joint meeting of the city council and civic organizations debates whether to call a special election for a new city charter, with accusations of bullying and claims of wasted taxpayer money.
- The Whidby Island Land Heist
A townsite development company claims a notary public fraudulently altered a contract to seize control of their Whidby Island property.
- The Case of the Altered Lottery Ticket
Two men sue the Great Northern Express Company for $3,750, alleging their winning lottery ticket was tampered with in transit.
- A Wife Says Her Husband Tried to Shoot Her—Then Altered the Deed
Rachel McDonald's divorce suit describes years of cruelty, a terrifying revolver threat, and a scheme to erase her name from their Ravenna property.
- The Day Snohomish Became a Ghost Town: A Fatal Accident and the Paper That Got It Wrong
A logger’s tragic death in Holmes Harbor was so widely reported that it appeared in newspapers across the territory—except for one crucial error: they all got the location wrong.
- Tacoma’s Theaters Face Shutdown Over Fire Safety
Following a disaster in Chicago, Mayor Campbell orders city officials to inspect local entertainment venues for fire hazards.
- The Grocery Company That Cooked Its Own Books
Tacoma Grocery Company’s president is accused of falsifying minute books and hiding assets from the receiver, creditors and stockholders.
- The Great 'Ram’s Horn' Legal Battle Ends
A landmark Supreme Court decision upholds railroad franchises against the City of Seattle, clearing the way for new industrial development along the waterfront.
- After the Riot, Life Under Martial Law
While Seattle remained under military occupation following the anti-Chinese expulsion riots, the saloon keepers petitioned for the right to reopen their doors.
- New Federal Law Targets Chinese Residents
A harsh new congressional act forces Chinese laborers to prove their identity and secure certificates of residency or face deportation and hard labor.
- The Iron Road Reaches Seattle
How James J. Hill bypassed government land grants to connect the Pacific Coast to the interior, permanently altering Seattle’s future.
- The Price of a City’s Future: Yesler’s Corner
A single landowner held Seattle’s urban development hostage, forcing the city council to choose between private property rights and the public good.
- The Tragedy on James Street
A young music teacher's life is altered by a violent streetcar accident, leading to a landmark legal fight against a transit corporation.
- The Guard Mutinied Over a Railroad Strike
A 1894 court of inquiry found Tacoma’s Company G guilty of mutiny, cashiered a captain who surrendered to strikers at Sprague, and exposed a forged strike-edition letter.
- The Ballard City Hall Meltdown
A local council meeting descends into chaos as officials trade corruption accusations and threats of physical violence.
- Tacoma’s Theater Safety Crisis
Following the horrific Iroquois Theater fire in Chicago, local inspectors scramble to identify hazards in Tacoma’s aging entertainment venues.
- Eight Dead, and the Steamboat Owners Owe Only $3,500
A federal judge in Seattle limits the Annie Faxon's liability after a Snake River boiler explosion, extending an old maritime rule to inland steamboats.
- The Forgotten Souls of the County Poor Farm
A rare, unflinching account of the grim conditions inside Seattle’s makeshift county asylum, where the elderly and infirm were left to languish on hard wooden planks.
- The Scapegoat of Pierce County
A prominent local businessman finds himself the target of a smear campaign after a financial scandal guts the county treasury, revealing the toxic power of public rumor in 1870s Tacoma.
- The Land Grab That Built Tacoma: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Stole Millions of Acres
A furious editorial in the Seattle Star exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad’s scheme to misappropriate public lands for a private coal line, arguing that the company is using legal loopholes to steal from settlers in King and Snohomish counties.
- The Confidence Man of Madison Street
A charismatic stranger built a house in Seattle, charmed local investors, and pulled off a sophisticated bank fraud that left the city stunned.
- The Price of Progress: A Right-of-Way Dispute That Reshaped the Region
When an exorbitant demand from a local farmer stalled the Great Northern Railway, the company threatened to bypass Snohomish and Everett entirely in favor of Seattle.
- A Life-Altering Elevator Accident at the Bank
A young student files a $25,000 lawsuit against the Seattle National Bank Building Company after a gruesome elevator accident leaves her permanently disfigured.
Also about this, in other words
- The Mystery of the Altered State Tax Law
A suspicious, unexplained edit to an enrolled bill threatens to protect railroads from paying their fair share of taxes.
- The Unauthorized Preacher
A man committed to the state asylum after an erratic attempt to seize a local pulpit is sent back to care.
- A Violent Attack at the Altar
A clergyman is assaulted by an intruder while officiating mass, leading to a swift local trial.
- The Reverend and the Editor Spar Over Grammar
A local minister demands public corrections for his column, leading to a feisty rebuttal from the newspaper's editorial staff.
- A Bloody Disagreement Over Press Freedom
A local attorney attempts to thrash a newspaper editor with a loaded cane and finds the editor more than a match for him.
- The Eccentricity Defense: Sarah McDonough Fights for Autonomy
A Seattle woman fights to keep control of her property after local officials attempt to commit her to an asylum.
- The Rag, the Belt and the Flywheel: A Laundry Hand's Bad Monday
Ray Strong was wiping an engine belt he had no business touching when the cloth whipped him into a spinning flywheel. He was alive, unconscious at times, and the whole town was counting on his 'strong vitality.'
- The Unintended Confession
A romantic entanglement at a dairy farm is exposed when a letter is mailed to the wrong recipient, sparking a public scandal of pride and betrayal.