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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 3 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 5 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 5 |
| 1862 | 7 |
| 1863 | 2 |
| 1864 | 2 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 11 |
| 1876 | 41 |
| 1877 | 39 |
| 1878 | 32 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1880 | 7 |
| 1882 | 10 |
| 1883 | 51 |
| 1884 | 25 |
| 1885 | 24 |
| 1886 | 19 |
| 1887 | 16 |
| 1888 | 19 |
| 1889 | 54 |
| 1890 | 22 |
| 1891 | 32 |
| 1892 | 57 |
| 1893 | 58 |
| 1894 | 99 |
| 1895 | 118 |
| 1897 | 4 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 25 |
| 1903 | 47 |
| 1904 | 46 |
| 1905 | 7 |
| 1907 | 1 |
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| 1909 | 32 |
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| 1916 | 3 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 2 |
952 stories matching commenc
- The Dredgers Are Coming: Seattle's Canal Project Finally Starts Moving
After years of financing delays, engineers promised to begin bulkheads and surveys on the south canal—and to haul giant hydraulic dredgers north to reshape the tide flats.
- The Wig and the Wire: How a Tacoma Newspaper Owner Tried to Destroy a Judge
In the sensational Wickersham trial of 1889, prosecutor R.P. Radebaugh’s own past and his alleged conspiracy to frame Judge Wickersham for 'immorality' were laid bare in court.
- Coxey's Army on Trial: Seattle Laborers Testify About the Yakima Gunfire
In federal court in Seattle, members of the Commonweal Army described how deputy marshals clubbed and shot at unemployed men trying to ride a train east to present the Coxey bill to Congress.
- The Bridge That Bound the Bay: Seattle’s Race to Connect with the World
As the final piles are driven for the Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railway, local magnate Henry Yesler and his partners bet their fortunes on a railroad that will turn this muddy port into a continental hub.
- The Bell in the Woods: How Seattle Built Its First University
A 34-year anniversary feature on the Territorial University: 48 laborers, $2-a-day wages, lumber from Port Blakely, and an old bell that warned ships in fog and rang for hangings.
- The Sheriff’s Swift Justice at Commencement Bay
After a horse was stolen from Georgetown, the sheriff tracked the thieves to a camp near the Indian reservation and recovered the animal in less than 24 hours.
- The First Teachers’ Institute: A Battle for Seattle’s Soul
In September 1872, the Territory’s top educators gathered in Seattle to debate everything from corporal punishment to the role of women in teaching, laying the groundwork for public education in Washington.
- Before the Railroads Cut Through Seattle, One Man Proposed a Saner Street Grid
A letter to the editor calls for wider avenues, a logical naming and numbering system, and railroad tracks that follow the platted streets—not slice across them at will.
- The Town That Grew in Ninety Days—and Then Waited for the Railroad
In 1890, promoters carved Anacortes out of the Fidalgo Island forest, sold lots at galloping prices, and promised a transcontinental rail terminal. Two years later, the trains still stopped short and the company wharf was closed to the public.
- The Night a Streetcar Powerhouse Fire Left Half of Seattle Dark
A pre-dawn blaze at Fifth and Pine gutted the Consolidated Street Railway plant, destroyed nearly all its cars and dynamos, crippled three lines, and blacked out everything north of Pike Street.
- A Pioneer's 40-Year Fight for Land the Indian Wars Took
Isaiah W. Bryant's 1895 petition traced how he fled his White River donation claim during the 1855-56 war, lost his savings, and waited decades for the land office to act.
- A Gunfight on Marion Street: The Clerk Who Shot a Seattle Policeman
Harry Good was bound over for attempted murder after a running shootout that left Officer Glasscock wounded and the downtown force scrambling.
- Masked Vigilantes Hang a Convicted Murderer in Dayton Jail
James McPherson, convicted of murdering E. H. Cummins at New York Bar, was taken from the Dayton jail by masked men and hanged, despite a governor's reprieve and a new trial order.
- The Unsung Pioneers Clearing the Skagit River
While the territory hailed the opening of the Skagit Valley to navigation, the men bankrolling the arduous labor of clearing the massive log jam were left bankrupt.
- The Man Who Wanted Only the Rich to Vote
At the University of Washington’s first commencement, a visiting judge delivered a fiery address arguing that municipal government is like a railroad company: those without property should have no say in its management.
- The Sewer Under Beacon Hill
After quicksand, floods and a costly detour, Seattle’s South Tunnel is weeks from completion—and somehow still inside its $100,000 budget.
- The Grocer's Wife, the Forged Letters, and the Poisoned Glass
A Seattle woman says a trusted neighbor engineered her husband's disappearance, shipped her to Honolulu, and slowly drugged her — then she found the receipts.
- The Wreck of the Lily Grace
After surviving a harrowing gale and the total loss of his ship near Cape Flattery, a sea captain washes up in Seattle to recount a battle against the elements.
- The Preacher, the Presiding Elder, and the Typewritten Screed
An obscure minister accuses a Methodist leader of seduction and embezzlement, setting off a Seattle church scandal and a criminal-libel warrant.
- Seattle Starts Building Its Own Ground
Contractors drive the first piles in the tide flats, launching a massive fill project that will remake the city’s waterfront and industrial south end.
- Seattle’s Temple of Learning Rises Between Two Lakes
In 1895, contractors raced to finish a $200,000 campus between Union and Washington lakes—complete with copper finials, a gymnasium and a hillside observatory—before the September opening.
- The Great Jailbreak Attempt of 1888
A desperate group of prisoners, including a local forger and a pair of Vancouver burglars, came within thirty minutes of freedom before being thwarted by a vigilant guard.
- Free Mail Delivery Is Coming to Olympia—If the City Numbers Its Houses
Postmaster V. A. Milroy says carriers, boxes and three new routes will be ready by New Year’s Day, but two-thirds of the city’s houses still lack numbers and property owners must pay to add them.
- Railroads Raise the Freight on a Crop Already at Rock Bottom
A half-cent-a-pound shipping increase hits Washington hop growers just as overproduction and lice drive prices to their lowest ebb.
- The First Lacrosse Game Ever Played in Seattle
Five hundred spectators packed Madison Street Park as picked teams from Victoria introduced the city to lacrosse — and a stocky second-home nicknamed 'Billy' ran away with the show.
Also about this, in other words
- Seattle's Welsh Community Celebrates Heritage
A large crowd gathered at Ranke's Hall to hear the Cambrian Glee Club and learn about Cymrodorion traditions.
- A Sharp Rebuttal to the 'Fireside' Creed
A female reader fires back at a young man's unsolicited advice on 'women's place' in society.
- The Decalcomania Confidence Man
A group of Seattle women expose a predatory art instructor who used a 'transfer work' scam to swindle local households.
- Drafting the Constitution
As the constitutional convention meets in Olympia, delegates navigate high-stakes debates over statehood, judicial reform, and the volatile question of woman suffrage.
- A Frontier Independence Day Warning
On the Fourth of July, 1891, Senator Claypool delivers a scathing critique of corporate power, political corruption, and the shifting identity of a growing nation.