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 |
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1876 | 15 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 2 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 4 |
| 1883 | 14 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 10 |
| 1886 | 10 |
| 1887 | 6 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 15 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 16 |
| 1892 | 32 |
| 1893 | 27 |
| 1894 | 31 |
| 1895 | 29 |
| 1898 | 5 |
| 1899 | 6 |
| 1903 | 14 |
| 1904 | 8 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 6 |
| 1911 | 2 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 5 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1918 | 1 |
287 stories matching coat
- A Killer, a Gold-Brick Swindler, and a Widow's Missing Coat
James Murphy waits to learn whether he'll be shipped to Walla Walla for killing Phil Doe in the Copper Chief saloon — while a con man's loyal wife scours Front Street for the coat a dead man wore.
- A Monument for the Lamented Coats
Indigenous communities gather at Puyallup to honor a leader with a grand memorial and traditional potlatch.
- The Lawyer and the Rubber Coat
A Seattle attorney pulls a local government worker from a watery death in the harbor by the tails of his coat.
- The Failed Elopement of the Postmaster’s Daughter
A small-town romantic drama in Bucoda ends with an attempted escape, a Winchester rifle, and a boxcar departure to California.
- The Coat That Became a Campaign Scandal
A Steilacoom merchant says Col. Wm. H. Wallace paid for the coat Warren Gore called stolen—and that the real target is the county's voters.
- The Socialist Civil War
A fiery dispatch from Spokane exposes a rift within the Socialist Party over internal discipline, alleged corruption, and the fight for union labor in city government.
- The Gang That Left the Coat Hangers Behind
Two break-ins in twelve days, fifty-five suits and a thousand dollars gone, and a trail of hangers in a brush heap behind the Kennewick Hotel.
- A Hobo's Waving Coat, and Three Slides That Shut the Line North of Newport
A landslide near Scotia derails a Great Northern freight — saved from worse by a tramp flagging the crew with his coat — while two more slides in the Morrissey cut strand the night passenger and keep Newport passengers in local hotels until morning.
- The Knife in the Overcoat: A Seattle Street Fight
A local businessman outsmarts two footpads on a dark corner of Battery Street.
- A Close Call on Washington Street
A carpenter’s spilled lamp sets a roof ablaze, only for an alert officer to stop the fire with a well-aimed kick.
- The Man Who Bet His Wardrobe on the Ballot
A cautionary tale of a local gambler who wagered his suits, boots, and even his vest on the outcome of the 1876 presidential election—and lost it all to the political currents.
- The Corset Clerk's Nightmare: A Beaver Dam Prank Gone Wrong
In a tale of mistaken identity and trembling knees, a young man’s attempt to escort a famous lecturer ends in panic when he is led to believe he must be measured for lingerie.
- 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.
- Vigilante Mob Targets Interracial Couple in Walla Walla
A masked group forcibly removed a man and his wife from their home, subjecting them to a brutal public assault.
- The Deadly Ambush at Council Prairie
An eye-witness account of a harrowing escape during the Puget Sound Indian War, describing a fatal skirmish, a desperate trek through winter swamps, and the loss of Colonel A. Benton Moses.
- The Midnight Landing at Smith's Cove
When dozens of Chinese laborers were smuggled into Seattle via a frigid landing at Smith’s Cove in 1892, a frantic, city-wide pursuit ensued.
- The Wooden Revolver That Freed Ten Prisoners
Thomas Blanck held a jailer hostage with a carved fake gun, emptied the King County jail, and vanished into Seattle's streets.
- The North Seattle Commuter Who Fought Back
When two armed men attempted to rob a local resident near the Grant-Street bridge, he chose to defend his coin with a kick and a fistfight.
- The Electrified Watchman
When the Seattle Electric Railway’s infrastructure turned the city into a hazard, a local watchman learned the hard way that his job required handling more than just time.
- The Midnight Fire at the Mechanics' Mill
A disastrous blaze wipes out the Mechanics' Mill Company in Seattle, leaving laborers and owners alike ruined just before Christmas.
- A Cook's Last Night in Tacoma
Injured, stranded ashore and facing the loss of his berth, a steamboat cook spends his final hours quarreling with his wife before swallowing morphine in a boarding-house room.
- The Parasol Beatdown on Commercial Dock
A husband’s attempt to slip away from his marriage is thwarted by an irate wife and her umbrella.
- The Constable and the Club
A Snoqualmie lawman claims self-defense in a Christmas Eve shooting.
- Vigilante Justice in Cle Elum
Citizens in Cle Elum adopt a brutal method of 'dealing with obstreperous hobos' using whips.
- City Council Descends into Brawling and Insults
A legislative meeting turns into a spectacle of name-calling and physical threats, forcing the mayor to call in the city marshal to maintain order.
Also about this, in other words
- The Solitary Tailor’s Winter Plea
A brief, wistful moment in 1884 Seattle captures the isolating struggle of early frontier life through a tailor’s longing for a coat.
- The Thief Who Stole a Coat Under the Nose of the Law
A bold pickpocket makes the mistake of committing his crime right under the watchful gaze of a city official.
- The Overcoat Thief Is at Work in This City
A wave of coat thefts sweeps through Seattle hotels and lodgings; one suspect is caught red-handed with a warrant.
- The Vagrancy Question in Ritzville
Business owners and locals grow increasingly hostile toward transients passing through on the railroad.
- The Boy Who Stole a Coat: Seattle’s Teenage Burglars and Their 'Ingenious' Defense
Two teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were caught red-handed stealing overcoats on King Street. Their attempt to blame a mysterious third party failed, but their defiant attitude offers a rare glimpse into the juvenile justice system of early Seattle.
- The Weather Bureau's Secret Weapon
An Aberdeen inventor was caught with a bizarre, Gattling-gun-style contraption designed to blast the clouds away and control the rain.
- The Redcoats Have Landed in Seattle
A detachment of Northwest Mounted Police arrives in Seattle, turning heads and fraternizing with U.S. sailors before heading to the Yukon.
- The Tariff That Stole Your Coat: How Washington's Economy Was Held Hostage
In October 1890, Aberdeen workers and farmers felt the bite of the McKinley Tariff before it even passed, as prices soared and wages stagnated in a state where 'free labor' was being priced out of existence.