Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 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.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 26 |
| 1877 | 24 |
| 1878 | 5 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 7 |
| 1882 | 6 |
| 1883 | 23 |
| 1884 | 11 |
| 1885 | 21 |
| 1886 | 15 |
| 1887 | 11 |
| 1888 | 11 |
| 1889 | 39 |
| 1891 | 13 |
| 1892 | 41 |
| 1893 | 63 |
| 1894 | 69 |
| 1895 | 94 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 19 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 12 |
| 1904 | 2 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1928 | 3 |
| 1929 | 6 |
543 stories matching differ
- The Price of Progress: Railroads Sue for Unpaid Pledges
The Port Townsend Southern Railroad begins a wave of test cases in superior court to force residents to pay for land subsidies they had previously promised.
- The Rivalry of the Sound: Seattle vs. Tacoma
A critical report from a German newspaper highlights the starkly different development paths of the two boomtowns.
- The Madison Street Assessment Mix-Up
A clerical error by the city has suddenly shifted the burden of sidewalk taxes, creating a financial mess for homeowners.
- The Ferryman of the Dark River
An encounter on the waterfront reveals the quiet, lingering melancholy of a man reflecting on the 'old timey days' and the hard reality of post-slavery life.
- The Seattle Sewer Brick Scandal
A political investigation into allegations that the City of Seattle paid inflated prices for materials used in municipal sewer construction.
- The Politics of Personal Attack in 1872
A century and a half ago, a Seattle newspaper reflected on the toxic state of political discourse and the dangerous habit of substituting insults for policy debate.
- Fracture in the Good Templars Order
Deep-seated internal divisions threaten to split the Independent Order of Good Templars in King and Kitsap counties.
- Street Preacher Faces Trial for Pioneer Square Sermon
A street orator's right to speak on public planking sparks a debate over whether the Salvation Army's influence creates a double standard for public space.
- Taxpayers Overcharged for Sewer Bricks
City Committee member James F. McElroy claims the city is paying nearly double for sewer bricks compared to private market rates.
- The Mysterious Hardware Peddler
A man arrested at Front and Pike streets offers a flimsy excuse for the odd assortment of hardware in his possession.
- The High Cost of Paving Progress
A warning to the city that the frenetic pace of street regrading is pushing homeowners toward financial ruin.
- The Great Sheep War: Seattle’s Political Flocks and the Independent Goats
A satirical letter to the editor uses a bizarre allegory of sheep herds and wild goats to critique Seattle's political parties, corporate wolves, and the emerging independence of women in public life.
- The Mystery of the Silent Man
A deaf and mute man, unable to communicate, wanders the mill districts of Seattle, leaving local authorities perplexed and the public uneasy.
- The Fight for Seattle’s High School
A debate over the legality of public secondary education emerges as the school board moves to abolish the high school designation.
- Surveying the Wilderness for Iron Rails
As the Northern Pacific Railroad push reached deep into the Montana and Washington territories, engineers braved brutal winter storms and rugged mountain passes to chart the future of the Northwest.
- Ballard's Chaotic Three-Way Election
A local municipal election descends into farce as rival factions swap candidates and run into residency requirements.
- The Great Grain War of the Columbia River
When the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company tried to undercut Seattle's shipping dominance, the press was quick to call their bluff.
- The City Pits Engines Against Each Other at the Waterfront
A competitive trial at the foot of University Street tests a new firefighting engine against the city's established standard.
- Arrested for Standing on the Corner
A Seattle man is hauled off to jail for the simple crime of engaging in a public conversation that obstructed the sidewalk.
- Seattle's New Water System Takes Shape
An massive engineering project aims to transform city life with springs and eventually Lake Washington's deep reserves.
- The City That Couldn't Host Its Guests
As steamers bring hundreds of travelers to Seattle, local hotels are full and a new building sits empty in legal limbo, leaving strangers sleeping on docks.
- The Rapid Transformation of Puget Sound
An old-timer writes to the editor to ask for news of Seattle, prompting a reflection on the dizzying speed of the city's growth from a three-house settlement in 1853 to a bustling port in 1883.
- A Seattle Woman Defends the Italian Immigrant
Interviewed at the Rainier, a language teacher recently returned from Europe rejects the caricature of Italians as a degraded race and describes them as industrious, sober, and devoted to home and family.
- Seattle's Fruit Brokers Declared War on the Shrinking Apple Box
In a market where every Puget Sound mill cut its own crate, Seattle commission men pushed a uniform standard—and growers demanded $5,000 bonds to keep the middlemen honest.
- The Hunter and the Runaway
A determined civilian investigator tracks a suspect across the West, certain he’s bagged a notorious fugitive, while the target sits in a Seattle jail cell for the minor crime of selling liquor to Indians.