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 |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1876 | 7 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1885 | 4 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 16 |
| 1893 | 13 |
| 1894 | 2 |
| 1895 | 7 |
| 1903 | 14 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 6 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1928 | 2 |
98 stories matching dec
- Five Million Apples and a Telegraph From Roosevelt
In December 1908, Spokane promised 80,000 square feet of fruit, international prizes and a presidential telegraph—all to crown itself the apple capital of the world.
- The Worst Storm on the Sound: A Train Wreck, a Drifting Ship, and Dead Wires
A landslide derails a Northern Pacific freight near Castle Rock, a British ship is blown across Tacoma bay, and the telegraph goes dead from Seattle south.
- A Federal Injunction Kills the Northern Pacific Strike Before It Starts
As receivers slash wages 3 to 5 percent, a Milwaukee judge bars the railroad brotherhoods from ordering a walkout—and the order is being extended 'to cover this state,' binding Northern Pacific men all along the line to Seattle.
- Newport Votes Itself Dry by Sixteen Votes
A local-option election on Sept. 7, 1909, ended licensed liquor sales in Newport, 110 to 94, after challenged voters, an illegal-registration arrest and a hard-fought badge campaign. The saloons were set to close Dec. 6, with a countywide vote still to come.
- The Divorce Dozen: Olympia’s Council Clears a Path for Broken Marriages
In December 1860, the Washington Territory Council processed a flurry of divorce petitions, including one from prominent local figure Carson D. Boren, revealing the fragile nature of domestic life in the frontier.
- The Centralia Medical Scandal
Two physicians and a nurse are arrested for a 'surgical operation' that led to the death of an elderly business owner.
- Puyallup Tribe Demands Accountability
A committee of twelve Puyallup tribal leaders issued an ultimatum to land commissioners they claim are avoiding open discussion of reservation rights.
- A Fire Started in a Brothel. It Took Centralia's Opera House and Newspaper.
A blaze behind a Tower Avenue saloon jumped to the Binkley opera house and the Daily News office, gutting a commercial block despite heavy rain and a fierce firefight.
- The Blast at Mason Slip
A steam tug carrying three crew members is obliterated in a freak explosion on the Seattle waterfront.
- Puget Sound Out-Sailed Every U.S. Port but New York in 1894
Customs records showed a young Washington district building an Oriental trade from scratch, even as falling wheat and lumber values masked the boom in raw tonnage.
- A Davenport Damage Suit
A Black woman files a high-stakes civil suit against a prominent town citizen for an alleged assault occurring eighteen months prior.
- State Court Rules Against Land Grabs in Ballard
The Washington Supreme Court finds that the Land Commissioner acted unlawfully when canceling private leases to clear way for the Lake Washington canal.
- A Gold-Headed Cane for the Man Who Stayed on the Phone in a Burning Mine
Newcastle honored C.C. Anderson, who kept giving orders to trapped miners as the roof burned above him.
- A Chinese Student's 1929 Speech Named the Racism Washington Tried to Forget
At the University of Washington's Cosmopolitan Club, Wesley Kai Hwa Kwang catalogued a century of anti-Chinese violence — including the 1885 killings in Squak Valley and the burning of Tacoma's Chinatown — and asked a white audience to account for it.
- He Walked 600 Miles for Work—Then Seattle Called Him a Tramp
In a letter to the editor, Harry Wright defends the men sleeping at the City Mission, tracing his path from a Missoula hotel job to six weeks broke in Seattle.
- The Child Who Vanished: A Tragedy on the Columbia Bar
A two-year-old girl was swept overboard from a steam tug in the Pacific Northwest, becoming one of the many unnamed victims of the region's treacherous waters.
- The Campaign to Drive Out Chinese Laundry Workers
Tensions boil over in late 19th-century Seattle as the Knights of Labor organize a systematic movement to forcibly remove Chinese laborers from the city's economy.
- A Christmas Eve Killing in the Woods
A railroad foreman is murdered in a Pe-Ell camp, sparking a failed attempt by a lynch mob to claim the shooter.
- The Ambush Near Dubuque
Two farmers were shot dead in the snow by young men lurking in the woods, leaving the community reeling.
- The Inspector Who Rode Free: Seattle's Steamboat Watchdog on Trial
Local steamboat inspector W. J. Bryant stands accused of favoritism in granting licenses, of padding his travel accounts while riding free, and of owing his office to his sidelines selling life-preservers and marine insurance.
- The Tragedy and Redemption of Alice Cady
After a young woman fled to Seattle to escape scandal, her father and lover reunited with her to formalize their bond.
- The Shadowy Killing of the Italian Chieftain
Conflicting accounts of a posse's lethal encounter in Valley, Washington, raise questions of vigilante violence and missing money.
- Federal Control Tightens Over Indian Land Income
A new government order mandates that lease money from Indigenous lands be held in restricted accounts, limiting how landowners can access their own funds.
- The Dries Sweep Stevens County—and 39 Saloons Get Their Notice
A local-option election gives the dries a 677-vote majority, closes 39 saloons, and leaves Newport's saloonkeepers pinning their hopes on a court challenge.
- The Hop Capital's Boom Years
In 1890, Puyallup was a bustling, bank-rich agricultural hub defined by Ezra Meeker’s hop empire and massive infrastructure investments.
Also about this, in other words
- Richland’s Patriotic Picnic and the Rising River
While the community prepared for a festive Fourth of July celebration in the park, encroaching floodwaters threatened local farms and the picnic grounds themselves.
- A Christmas Eve Assault in Ahtanum
A local man faces justice after a violent holiday altercation with his wife and a dispute over his daughter’s suitor.
- A Judicial Attempt at Reconciliation
In a divorce proceeding, a local judge steps outside the bounds of the bench to urge a feuding couple to try again.
- The Christmas Eve Brawl at the French Woman’s Saloon
A holiday celebration in Seattle ends in a violent saloon assault, leaving a mill worker clinging to life.
- A Frontier Promise Kept
In an era of rugged isolation, an anonymous immigrant couple reflects on twenty years of marriage, the silence of their home, and the sudden joy of a child arriving on Christmas Day.
- The Doomsday Cult of South Union
While the rest of the country debated silver and trade, a group of Thurston County farmers were preparing for the final apocalypse.
- The Apple Industry’s Existential Crisis
A committee of Pacific Northwest growers warns that thousands of carloads of fruit are rotting in orchards, necessitating a centralized by-product industry to survive.
- Spokane Prophetess Predicts End of World
An elderly Spokane woman has prophesied that the world will end on December 30th, sparking religious fervor among the local tribes.