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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 14 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1859 | 15 |
| 1860 | 5 |
| 1861 | 20 |
| 1862 | 7 |
| 1863 | 5 |
| 1864 | 4 |
| 1865 | 4 |
| 1872 | 26 |
| 1876 | 144 |
| 1877 | 133 |
| 1878 | 160 |
| 1879 | 12 |
| 1880 | 39 |
| 1882 | 14 |
| 1883 | 104 |
| 1884 | 75 |
| 1885 | 107 |
| 1886 | 73 |
| 1887 | 77 |
| 1888 | 48 |
| 1889 | 180 |
| 1890 | 56 |
| 1891 | 210 |
| 1892 | 469 |
| 1893 | 363 |
| 1894 | 357 |
| 1895 | 406 |
| 1897 | 18 |
| 1898 | 62 |
| 1899 | 31 |
| 1900 | 36 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 287 |
| 1904 | 131 |
| 1905 | 27 |
| 1907 | 11 |
| 1908 | 91 |
| 1909 | 234 |
| 1910 | 46 |
| 1911 | 6 |
| 1912 | 4 |
| 1914 | 53 |
| 1915 | 48 |
| 1916 | 121 |
| 1917 | 75 |
| 1918 | 10 |
| 1919 | 1 |
| 1922 | 3 |
| 1923 | 38 |
| 1924 | 34 |
| 1925 | 13 |
4,513 stories matching counti
- The Great Railway Gamble of 1878
Territorial lawmakers drafted a sweeping plan to bind Washington’s counties together with a railroad, tasking local voters with footing the bill through massive debt.
- The County That Forgot Its Southern Neighbors
Settlers south of the Nisqually say Lewis County has never spent a dollar on their roads or bridges, and now they want to bolt for Pierce County.
- The Political Erasure of Lewis County
Citizens in rural Washington cry foul as the 1889 constitutional convention districting map threatens to strip their county of political representation.
- County Cuts Public Services to Lower Taxes
Benton County commissioners eliminate the positions of county agent and club leader to reduce the tax burden, ending agricultural extension services.
- The Transit Case That Made the County Pay
A Stevens County surveyor ordered the tool he needed; commissioners refused the bill. The state Supreme Court said the county was liable.
- The Jury That Called Out King County’s Corruption
A scathing 1887 report from the Grand Jury exposes the mismanagement, dangerous roads, and broken record-keeping systems of pioneer-era Seattle.
- The Question of Missing County Tax Money
The Herald calls on the county commissioners to account for over $6,000 in missing tax funds allegedly held back by former county attorneys.
- The Struggle for a New County
Citizens in the Wenatchee Valley argue that traveling across the Cascades to reach their county seats is an unreasonable burden for local governance.
- County Officials Face Off Against Railroads in Olympia
Benton County leaders head to the state capital to defend tax valuations against railroad corporations seeking lower assessments.
- A County Seat Fight With More Petition Signers Than Voters
Pacific County commissioners agreed to put the county seat up to a vote — then discovered that South Bend and Sealand had turned in 2,373 signatures from a county with barely 1,500 voters.
- A County Divided: Newport’s Bid for the County Seat
A Colville editor mocks the east-west county division scheme, but dry-vote fallout and Newport’s county-seat ambitions expose real fault lines across Stevens County.
- The Struggle for Representation in Chelan County
Residents of the Chelan region are campaigning to split the county, citing the immense hardship of traveling 45 miles to reach the county seat.
- The Strange Case of the County's Vanished Property
A legal battle over the former Collins claim reveals a messy history of county mismanagement, secret land deals, and invalid property sales.
- City and County Spar Over Smallpox Care Costs
A simmering dispute between the Seattle City Council and King County over who should pay to treat the city's sick and indigent.
- King County Democrats Begged for Mercy on the Lake Washington Canal
At the 1892 state Democratic convention, Seattle's delegates surrendered their instructions and let Pierce County humiliate them over the canal project—a defeat the Post-Intelligencer vowed voters would remember in November.
- The Great County Border War of 1886
When Pierce County attempted to poach King County's townships to bolster its own size and wealth, the local press didn't mince words about the 'unauthorized' territorial expansion.
- The Struggle for Osceola's Road
A letter from an early settler argues that connecting the remote Osceola precinct to Seattle is vital to the county's economic future.
- The Treasury’s Call: A Deadline for Snohomish County Debt
An 1875 public notice issued by County Treasurer John D. Morgan warns citizens that the county will stop paying interest on outstanding orders drawn prior to the new year.
- The Struggle for Access: Farmers Demand Roads to Seattle
Early Washington farmers protest the neglect of rural infrastructure, warning they will take their trade to Tacoma if the King County commission fails to connect them to the city.
- Railroads Escape Taxes While County Officials Accept Passes
The county commissioners reduced railroad valuations again, forcing taxpayers to cover the state revenue shortfall.
- Snoqualmie Pass Becomes a Free Public Road
King and Kittitas counties reach a historic agreement to stop toll collection, opening the mountains to the public.
- Benton County Officially Born
After legal hurdles and a formal decree from the superior court, Governor Albert E. Mead signed the proclamation establishing Benton County, signaling a new era for the region.
- The High Court Kills Newport's Court District, and Eastern Stevens County Is Told to Go It Alone
Washington's Supreme Court struck down the law that let Superior Court sit outside county seats, wiping out Newport's new judicial district and sending local litigants back down the road to Colville — unless the county itself can be split in two.
- A Quack, a $125 Bill, and a Prosecution That Cost the County More Than It Recovered
A Thurston County letter-writer asks why commissioners and the county attorney spent the public's money to convict an irregular doctor over a small bill — and got nothing back.
- The Books Don't Lie: A County's Debt Fight Comes Down to the Fine Print
A contributed broadside against Stevens County's Democratic commissioners argues that a $14,776 'reduction' in the county debt hides $44,420 in new warrants — and the highest tax take in county history.