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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 4 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 6 |
| 1860 | 5 |
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1865 | 2 |
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1872 | 12 |
| 1876 | 41 |
| 1877 | 43 |
| 1878 | 27 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 9 |
| 1882 | 11 |
| 1883 | 39 |
| 1884 | 19 |
| 1885 | 40 |
| 1886 | 16 |
| 1887 | 30 |
| 1888 | 36 |
| 1889 | 74 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 55 |
| 1892 | 83 |
| 1893 | 91 |
| 1894 | 119 |
| 1895 | 36 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 4 |
| 1899 | 22 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 54 |
| 1904 | 45 |
| 1905 | 3 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 31 |
| 1910 | 5 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1912 | 5 |
| 1914 | 8 |
| 1915 | 9 |
| 1916 | 17 |
| 1917 | 13 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 1 |
1,050 stories matching cannot
- Free Wool, Free Lumber: Washington's Mill Towns Brace for the Tariff Shock
Seattle and Tacoma manufacturers warn that the new Havemeyer tariff will cut wages, ruin sheep raisers and hand the lumber trade to Canadian timbermen.
- The City That Couldn't Pay Its Bills: Seattle’s Fiscal Crisis and the Fight for Expansion
Mayor Moran and Councilman Dane plead with citizens to understand why street paving is stalled and sewer plans are shelved—not from laziness, but because state law caps the city's debt just as the population doubles.
- The Letter That Asked: Is Olympia's Street-Tax Ordinance Even Legal?
A citizen signing himself 'Marius' argues that the city's method of charging property owners for street paving and grading violates due process — and warns that if the assessments collapse in court, every taxpayer in town will pay for it.
- The Prosecutor Says He Is Not in the Gamblers' Pocket
Seattle's prosecuting attorney goes on the record to deny a deal with a gambling fixer, and dares the sheriff and the chief of police to bring him a single witness.
- The Pit and the Claw: A Tacoma Man’s Terrifying Tale of Surviving a Bear Attack
Larsen describes the agony of being pinned in a bear trap, his arm crushed by the beast's jaws, and his desperate fight for survival in the woods near Schomaker.
- The City That Couldn't House Its Own Growth
A frustrated businessman attempts to set up shop in 1888 Seattle, only to find that despite the city's 'boasted enterprise,' the total lack of available real estate is driving investment away to Tacoma.
- 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 People’s Franchise: Seattle Votes Down Municipal Ownership of Streetcars
In a pivotal moment for the city's infrastructure, voters reject the Navin resolution to take control of street railways, cementing private corporate dominance over public transit.
- Big Bend Settlers Win Land Rights Over Northern Pacific
Secretary of the Interior Hoke Smith rules against the railroad in a landmark case involving indemnity lands in Eastern Washington.
- The Tragic Last Notes of L. R. Shaw
A desperate local resident details his financial ruin, drug dependence, and final instructions to his family in a series of haunting letters before taking his own life in Seattle.
- The battle for control of the Puget Sound cedar trade
Eastern jobbers and railroad interests lock horns with the local shingle trust in a fight over Pacific Northwest cedar.
- A Damning Report on Seattle's Water Works
A Chamber of Commerce committee found a hastily built municipal water system, political patronage and missing maps—and urged Seattle to hire a professional engineer at $5,000 a year.
- The Brick Crisis: Why Seattle’s Boom Is Stalling Because of Empty Lots
An editorial warns that the city's rapid growth is being choked by a lack of commercial infrastructure, urging property owners to build or lease for development before capital flees to rival towns.
- The Political Toboggan: Tacoma's Revolt Against a Carpetbagger Candidate
As the state legislature prepared to convene in 1891, prominent Tacoma Republicans publicly abandoned their own local candidate, labeling him an opportunist from Indiana.
- Olympia’s Booster Year: Brick, Bridges and a 50,000-Person Promise
As 1891 closed, the capital city counted $3 million in new buildings, a record bridge, electric lights and new rail lines — and predicted 50,000 residents within a decade.
- The Paper War: Port Townsend vs. Seattle
In 1876, a small rival town accused Seattle of economic sabotage over who printed their business cards.
- The Gold Rush That Never Was: How Canadian Laws Stifled Seattle’s Northern Dream
A Victoria contractor tells the Star that new British Columbia legislation has turned away American miners, leaving Alaska's gold fields dark and local businesses in ruins.
- The Battle for the Territory: Judson vs. Jacobs in the 1876 Election
As the nation grapples with the disputed presidential election of 1876, Washington Territory voters head to the polls to decide their own future, pitting Republican J.P. Judson against Democrat Judge Jacobs in a fierce contest for territorial supremacy.
- The Unpaid Bills of the James Street Cable Line
A legal dispute over the James Street cable railway ends in a victory for the company, leaving material suppliers with no way to recover their losses.
- Seattle's Big Bet on the Railroad Party
Seattle's boosters see a visit from Henry Villard's 600 Northern Pacific guests as the city's chance to impress Eastern capital—and they want a public reception ready.
- The Futility of Prohibition
A skeptical legislator warns that strict alcohol bans in Washington Territory will lead only to evasion, black markets, and public distrust.
- Don't Bond the Valley to a Dry Ditch
A Wenatchee editor warns that a $100,000 Wright-law irrigation bond would repeat the Kennewick failure—leaving settlers with debt, abandoned orchards, and no water.
- The Cattle Partnership That Could Not Be Settled in Court
A landmark Washington Supreme Court ruling in 1872 reminded settlers that you cannot simply sue your business partner; you must account for the ledger first.
- The Fight to Retain Benton County’s First Agriculturist
As local agricultural expert Lee M. Lampson eyes an offer in a bigger field, the editor argues that losing his local expertise would cost farmers more than a salary raise.
- The Strawberry Wars: Can Kennewick Growers Cooperate?
An editorial plea for local strawberry growers and marketing agencies to standardize their pack and stabilize pricing before the season collapses.
Also about this, in other words
- The Bureaucratic Cruelty of Chinese Exclusion
A Christian Chinese resident is denied the right to bring his wife to the United States following a restrictive court ruling.
- The Saloonkeeper Who Could Not Breathe
Albert Frederick Able, an old-time Seattle saloon man, suffocated when throat cancer closed the tube that kept him alive.
- A Taxpayer Tries to Stop the City From Writing Checks It Can’t Cover
Francis Hoffman and the Olympia Hardware Company ask a judge to block further city warrants, arguing Olympia has blown past its debt limit.
- The City Can Tear It Down: The Supreme Court Backs Seattle's Fire Limits
Daniel K. Baxter put up a twenty-foot shell of wooden posts wrapped in corrugated iron inside Seattle's fire limits. The state Supreme Court said the city could knock it down without ever going to court — and municipal building codes came out of it stronger than before.
- Canada’s Naturalization Papers Denied at the Border
Federal authorities reject the residency status of Chinese British subjects, sparking a test case for immigration restrictions.
- The Exclusion of 1888
A new federal law mandates harsh restrictions and identification requirements for Chinese laborers, forcing them to exit and enter through only six designated ports, including Port Townsend.
- The Right to Vote Should Not Be an Obstacle Course
A Seattle judge strikes down a restrictive registration law that forced foreign-born citizens to constantly prove their naturalization status.
- Marriage at the Center of an Exclusion Crisis
A Seattle couple's travel plans are halted by the Chinese Restriction Act, sparking a legal struggle for their right to move freely.