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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1861 | 3 |
| 1862 | 1 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 40 |
| 1877 | 25 |
| 1878 | 17 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 25 |
| 1884 | 18 |
| 1885 | 33 |
| 1886 | 22 |
| 1887 | 32 |
| 1888 | 16 |
| 1889 | 57 |
| 1890 | 10 |
| 1891 | 41 |
| 1892 | 96 |
| 1893 | 96 |
| 1894 | 93 |
| 1895 | 20 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 18 |
| 1900 | 4 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 44 |
| 1904 | 49 |
| 1905 | 4 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 39 |
| 1910 | 10 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1912 | 5 |
| 1914 | 9 |
| 1915 | 7 |
| 1916 | 24 |
| 1917 | 12 |
| 1918 | 2 |
| 1922 | 2 |
| 1923 | 8 |
| 1924 | 4 |
| 1925 | 2 |
909 stories matching break
- A Senator Breaks Ranks, and Seattle Howls
Senator Rutter abandons John B. Allen for George Turner, turning the 1893 U.S. Senate deadlock into a test of party loyalty and constituent fury.
- Under Fire on the Way to Spokane: Seattle's Militia Rode Into a Rail War
Col. Joseph Green's detachment returns from Spokane after escorting a mutinied company through burned bridges, ambushes and striker country—and the city turns out to cheer.
- The Cabbies' Ghost
Tacoma’s hackmen hold a desperate parade to break a jinxed night on Pacific Avenue.
- The Great Jailbreak on the Waterfront
Two young prisoners pried their way out of a city jail with nothing but a table leg and help from friends on the outside.
- Seattle’s Early Infrastructure Struggles: A City Thirsty for Reliability
A pipe burst in the heart of Seattle left residents without water, forcing them to queue at public wells as the growing city learned the hard way about the vulnerabilities of its infrastructure.
- A Social Break at Black Diamond
A local church breaks with 'sepulchral' tradition by hosting a social gathering that crosses racial and social lines.
- The Great Salmon Haul at Hat Island
A record-breaking catch of silver salmon near the mouth of the Snohomish River turns into a frantic struggle as nets break under the weight of the fish.
- Tragic Fall on the Trail
A young telegraph lineman repairing a storm-damaged line loses his footing on a log and breaks his neck in the wilderness.
- The Rampage of the Mad Coyote
A rabid beast terrorizes local farms and breaks up a neighborhood baseball game before being put down.
- The Riot at the Agricultural College
A call for police intervention after students mobbed the incoming college president and a regent.
- Seattle's Sewers Were Cracking All Over Town — and the City Engineer Blamed the Dirt
A furious letter writer insists the pipes broke not from 'percussion' but from the very worst kind of trench work — and points the finger straight at the man in charge.
- The Day the Canal Broke: Kennewick’s Irrigation Crisis and Recovery
When a critical break in the local irrigation canal threatened crops last Sunday, residents scrambled to repair the leak before Monday morning. The incident highlights the fragile lifeblood of Benton County agriculture.
- The Human Machine: An 1876 Warning on Burnout
A century-and-a-half-old editorial from Snohomish reminds us that the pressure to keep working is not a modern invention.
- City Landslide Disrupts Utilities
Heavy rain triggers an embankment collapse, fracturing gas and water lines in Tacoma’s lower districts.
- The Waterfall That Broke the Poets: Snoqualmie’s Majestic Leap
A special correspondent describes the Snoqualmie Falls not as a mere tourist stop, but as a 'noble and striking natural wonder' that defies language, offering a glimpse into the rugged beauty of Washington Territory in 1888.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- Ice Breaks: Two Young Men Drown in Snohomish River Tragedy
Horace Low and Arthur Butt, employees of the local newspaper office, lost their lives after ice gave way beneath them while skating on the river.
- Gas Line Explosion Destroys Home in Snohomish County
A tragic error during a pipe connection leaves three dead and others severely burned after a home is leveled.
- The Battle for the Capital: Yakima vs. The Railroads
A fiery local editorial argues that Yakima, not Olympia, should be the state capital to break the corrupt influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- The 'Ticket-of-Leave' Law: A New Era of Exclusion
New federal legislation mandates that Chinese laborers must register and carry certificates to remain in the country, a move critics denounce as treaty-breaking.
- The Pioneer Who Built a Territory on Grit
Before Seattle became a titan, early settlers like Col. M.T. Simmons faced the high-handed monopoly of the Hudson’s Bay Company to carve an American life in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Weight of the Mill: A Logger’s Victory on Puget Sound
For years, loggers were cheated by mill-owned scales that rigged the weight to keep pay low—until the Papal Mill Company broke the cycle.
- The Collapse of the Hop Corner
Ezra Meeker breaks a massive market manipulation scheme that threatened to hold Pacific Coast hop farmers hostage.
- The Trial of William A. Wilcox
A high-stakes murder trial reaches a breaking point as a defendant awaiting a verdict breaks down in the courtroom.
- The Day Seattle Shut Down: Sailors, Longshoremen and the First Labor Day
Banks, courts and public offices closed for the first time in the city's history, 2,500 people packed Pioneer Place for a 36-minute tug-of-war, and a labor orator told the crowd that good wages are the engine of everyone's prosperity.