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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1859 | 3 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1863 | 2 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 30 |
| 1877 | 17 |
| 1878 | 19 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 5 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 18 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 22 |
| 1886 | 6 |
| 1887 | 20 |
| 1888 | 17 |
| 1889 | 21 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 29 |
| 1892 | 65 |
| 1893 | 78 |
| 1894 | 78 |
| 1895 | 87 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 12 |
| 1900 | 5 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 35 |
| 1904 | 34 |
| 1905 | 2 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 5 |
| 1909 | 33 |
| 1910 | 9 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 9 |
| 1915 | 11 |
| 1916 | 13 |
| 1917 | 8 |
| 1923 | 9 |
| 1924 | 7 |
| 1925 | 2 |
761 stories matching collect
- The Taxation Trap: How Seattle’s Liquor Licenses Were Feeding the County, Not the City
In 1876, a territorial newspaper railed against a fiscal injustice: Seattle taxpayers were footing the bill for policing and street maintenance, while the county kept the revenue from liquor licenses sold within city limits.
- A Treasure Trove for Tacoma
Curator W.H. Gilstrap pushes to bring an expansive collection of Klickitat artifacts to Tacoma to preserve local Indigenous history.
- The Women Who Packed Washington Into a World's Fair
At the Olympia Hotel, local women joined two state commissioners to plan wood carvings, wildflowers, art and industry for Chicago's 1893 Columbian Exposition.
- The Wandering Numismatist
Police arrest a man from Fidalgo City carrying a century-old coin collection and a concealed weapon.
- The Shoalwater Bay Indigenous Exhibit
A meticulously assembled collection of maritime technology and daily life from the Shoalwater Bay tribes prepares for the World's Fair.
- The Tiny Republic of Anacortes: Boys, Shells, and Self-Government
In 1893, a group of Anacortes boys turned beachcombing into a natural-history club with a constitution, dues, and an exhibition that drew the whole town.
- The Clerk Who Refused to Leave Office—and the Books That Wouldn't Balance
King County and former clerk W. B. Spencer submit a long-running dispute over fees, continuances and a disputed shortage to Judge Humes for a final ruling.
- The Delegate Who Sold Seattle’s Future for Five Thousand Dollars
A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch accuses Territorial Delegate George Freeman Willard of betraying Seattle’s interests—specifically the mud flats of Duwamish Bay—to secure his own political and financial gain, while simultaneously accepting bribes from rival railroad companies.
- The Pastor, the Pawnshop, and the Forged Minutes
Seattle's Jones Street A.M.E. church removed Rev. Allen Whaley after trustees found missing collection money, a suspicious bank receipt, and minutes he wrote himself.
- The Evangelist’s Plea: Saving Seattle’s 'Fallen Women' with a House of Refuge
Rev. Crittenton packs the Armory to raise funds for a Florence Crittenton Mission, exposing the grim economics of prostitution and the desperate need for a local shelter.
- The Shadow Ledger of Tacoma’s Police
A secret cash book reveals how police collected 'fines' from gamblers and protected a slot machine monopoly.
- The Telephone Monopoly to Seattle: Don’t Print This
Seattle’s phone company keeps billing the old rates after the city council orders a cut, and its manager asks the press to keep quiet about it.
- The Bank Asks Newport to Keep Its Nerve
Stockholders of the First State Bank of Newport pledged to cover depositors' losses and asked for time to collect loans as the Panic of 1907 tightened its grip on the country.
- Will Tacoma Lose Its Alaska Curios?
The Ferry Museum’s prestigious collection of Alaska Native artifacts faces the threat of being sold to Chicago, Pittsburgh, or New York.
- The Governor's 1895 Warning: Washington Is Spending Itself Into Debt
A message to the legislature tallies a looming deficit, runaway appropriations and a public-land system under pressure — while urging lawmakers to lease harbor areas cheaply and defend taxpayers.
- Seattle's Money for the Roslyn Widows and Orphans
A citizens' committee reports nearly $3,000 raised for families of the Roslyn mine explosion, places five Catholic children in the House of the Good Shepherd, and sends the final check to Roslyn.
- 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 Banks That Wouldn't Pay Their Taxes
A county official fires back at his critics, revealing that the Municipal League members attacking him are stockholders in seven national banks suing to dodge their property taxes.
- Ballard’s Ex-Treasurer Takes the Stand Over a Missing $500
John Keane blames a tax collector who failed to turn over receipts, as the city of Ballard tries to recover an alleged shortage from its former treasurer.
- The Hidden Hoard of Seattle's Pioneer Square
A rare coin discovery in 1888 offers a glimpse into the transient, globalized pockets of Seattle's earliest residents.
- A Revolver at Her Ear: Mary Steel's Third Fight for a Divorce
Mary Steel's third divorce suit against David H. Steel laid bare a bitter fight over $49,000 in Seattle and Montana property—and allegations of violence, control and intimidation.
- Fatal Debt: A Dispute Over Sewing Machine Collections Ends in Murder
A Seattle sewing machine manager, Arthur M. Peck, was fatally shot at his residence after a heated collection dispute with a client in Olympia escalated to lethal violence.
- The Seizure of the Steamer Fairy
Federal authorities seize a vessel accused of smuggling eight Chinese laborers into Puget Sound.
- A Debt Collector's Fatal Encounter
A representative of the Domestic Sewing Machine Company is stabbed to death while attempting to collect a payment in Seattle.
- The License Collector Caught in His Own Trap
E. W. Bates shook down Lake Washington resorts, tried to pin the money on his boss, and was fired and arrested in the same afternoon.
Also about this, in other words
- The Collector’s Trap: A Seattle Customs Scandal
A clever merchant’s attempt to recoup a fine through a legislative loophole backfires, leaving him out $500 in an era of federal bureaucracy.
- The City Collector’s Year-End Deadline
With the dawn of 1877 approaching, Seattle’s City Collector issues a final warning for delinquent taxpayers: pay up or lose your property.
- The Unsuccessful Shingle Mill Debt Collector
A laborer at a Ballard shingle mill attempts to collect back wages with his fists, but ends up in a brawl with his employer.
- A Treasure of Extinct Art
A massive collection of rare Indigenous basketry, gathered over a decade, is donated to the State College of Washington museum.
- A Harvest Celebration at the Edge of the Desert
While the 1923 community fair fell short on attendance, it proved a financial triumph and a showcase for the 'soldier-settler' dream in the Priest Rapids Valley.
- A $50,000 Concentrator Heads Down the Pend d'Oreille
Machinery for a 200-ton ore concentrator is bound for Metaline, shipped through Newport and floated downriver on a homemade lumber raft.
- The End of the Sack: Inland Empire Farmers Vote to Bulk Their Grain
A convention of 300 regional grain growers resolves to modernize agricultural shipping, shifting from manual sack-handling to bulk storage and transport.
- The City Collector’s Year-End Ultimatum
Before the turn of the New Year in 1877, Seattle’s city collector warned residents that delinquent property taxes would lead to the immediate seizure and sale of their homes.