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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1859 | 3 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1863 | 3 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 35 |
| 1877 | 29 |
| 1878 | 19 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 7 |
| 1882 | 9 |
| 1883 | 34 |
| 1884 | 15 |
| 1885 | 35 |
| 1886 | 22 |
| 1887 | 23 |
| 1888 | 23 |
| 1889 | 78 |
| 1890 | 8 |
| 1891 | 48 |
| 1892 | 107 |
| 1893 | 118 |
| 1894 | 121 |
| 1895 | 39 |
| 1899 | 22 |
| 1900 | 2 |
| 1901 | 1 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 52 |
| 1904 | 49 |
| 1905 | 3 |
| 1909 | 41 |
| 1910 | 6 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 12 |
| 1915 | 8 |
| 1916 | 21 |
| 1917 | 19 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 4 |
| 1924 | 7 |
| 1925 | 2 |
1,054 stories matching chang
- The Political Price of a County Seat
When Steilacoom faced a challenge from a rising New Tacoma, citizens weighed civic growth against the hard cost of building a new government center.
- The Judge Who Refused to Step Aside
In Thurston County court, Judge Robinson denies a change of venue in the Minkler case, rejecting claims that county prejudice or a newspaper feud had compromised him.
- The Judge Who Gambled Away His Office: Soderberg’s Dramatic Resignation
After the grand jury returned five indictments for extortion and malfeasance in office, District Attorney Joseph Soderberg walked into court, tendered his resignation, and declared he would repay every illegal fee to the county treasury.
- Two Seattle Justices Fight a Move to the County Courthouse
The county commissioners want the justice courts in the courthouse; the justices say the basement rooms are cramped, the trip burdens litigants, and the change will cost more than it saves.
- The Name That Never Was: How Washington Stole Its Identity
A furious editorial in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer defends the state's name against a congressional proposal to rename it 'Tacoma,' arguing that the people’s attachment to their home is sacred.
- Turning Stumps into a City: Seattle's Great Transformation
For a quarter-century, the residents of Seattle have been waging a slow, expensive war against the forest, clearing timber, leveling hills, and filling ravines to make way for a modern city.
- The Lake That Wasn't: A Territorial Identity Crisis
In January 1890, a prominent New York journalist claimed Washington Territory wanted to be called 'Tacoma.' The Seattle Post-Intelligencer fired back with a scathing editorial, proving that the name 'Washington' was not just a political compromise, but a point of fierce local pride.
- Twenty-Three Ballots, No Senator
Washington's legislature spends the day deadlocked between Levi Ankeny and John L. Wilson, while George Turner withdraws and a bogus Tacoma Ledger interview roils the contest.
- The 1893 Plan to Untangle Seattle’s Government
A powerful city official wanted a stronger mayor, a one-house council, and fewer commissions—arguments Seattle still has today.
- The Circus Crooks Meet Chief Rogers' Shadow
Seattle police pair a detective with every known short-change and gim-flam man at the circus, but not before an old islander is nearly taken for $60.
- 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’s Tears: How a Thief Fooled His Victim and the Court
In May 1877, Seattle confidence operator Dowd was granted a change of venue after moving his robbery victim to tears with a sob story about his destitute family. The District Attorney’s lenient stance sparked outrage among citizens who feared the law was too soft on crime.
- The Free Train Passes That Kept a Senate Seat in Play
In Olympia, a deadlocked legislature, a withdrawn reform candidate, and John L. Wilson's railroad-funded lobby decide who will represent Washington in the U.S. Senate.
- The Changing of the Guard at the King County Courthouse
As a new Republican administration takes office in 1889, retiring officials hand over the keys to a bustling, rapidly growing county.
- The Struggle to Rename 'Horse Heaven'
Local farmers hope to rebrand their rugged 'Horse Heaven' hills as 'Benton Slope,' but history—and local geography—proves hard to change.
- Point Defiance Commuters Stranded by Transit Switch
The Tacoma Railway & Power Company cancels late-night park cars without warning, leaving riders to hoof it home from the smelter.
- Seattle and Tacoma Nearly Came to Blows Over the Ship Canal
At the 1892 Democratic state convention, King County's demand for a canal plank turned the floor into a shouting mob — and the vote flipped twice in a single night.
- The Unsolicited Burden of the 'Young Man's' Future
An 1875 newspaper advertisement in Snohomish promised a cure for the 'uncertainties' of life, reflecting a 19th-century obsession with self-improvement and the fear of personal stagnation.
- The Great Rebuilding: Seattle’s Hard Reset After the Fire
In the shadow of the 1889 Great Seattle Fire, the city saw a chance to rethink its geography, street levels, and civic character, transforming disaster into a blueprint for a modern metropolis.
- Thirty-Seven Miners Died 150 Feet From Safety
An 1894 coroner's jury in Franklin, Washington, heard how a small fire in the Oregon Improvement Company's coal mine became a wall of smoke — and why the men who could have escaped stayed to fight it.
- The Judge Who Wanted to Join the Salvation Army
Probate Judge Wickersham faces seduction charges in Tacoma; his defense seeks a venue change as he jokes about his future with the Salvation Army.
- The Day the Territorial Supreme Court Killed Women's Suffrage in Washington
In a landmark test case from May 1902, Judge Sash ruled that the Organic Act of Washington Territory only granted voting rights to males, effectively striking down local efforts to enfranchise women.
- The City That Forgot How to Ride: Seattle’s Battle for Short-Term Streetcar Franchises
In May 1899, the Seattle Star warned that granting long-term monopolies to street railway companies would leave the city trapped with obsolete technology and inflated prices. The paper argued fiercely for short-term grants to keep corporations accountable—a debate that echoes in today’s transit infrastructure battles.
- A Victory Over Land Speculation
A corrupt order favoring railroad interests over public land rights has been rescinded by the General Land Office.
- The New Era: How Woman Suffrage Changed Seattle Politics
An eye-witness account of the 1884 election, where new female voters, juries, and a 'reformed' city hall signal a sea change in frontier culture.