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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1904 | 7 |
| 1909 | 4 |
31 stories matching dispatch
- A Railroad Rumour Makes Tacoma the Western Hub
A dispatch says the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul plans a Pacific Coast line with headquarters in Tacoma and a Seattle branch—and its agents are already buying land near Wenatchee.
- The Great Hops Hoax: Tacoma’s ‘Massive’ Landslide Turns Out to Be a Trifle
Panic swept the Sound when reports claimed a catastrophic slide at Tacoma had buried buildings and halted rail traffic. The Dispatch reveals the truth: only twenty acres of land moved, knocking over a few Chinese cabins, while the real drama was just steamers running late.
- Tacoma Shippers Fear for the Shawmut
Global tensions from the Russo-Japanese War reach Tacoma as merchants worry about a local steamship being intercepted.
- The Great Mountain Name War
Tensions boil over as Tacoma citizens petition to rename the newly designated Mount Rainier reservation to Mount Tacoma, reigniting a 100-year-old geographic debate.
- Army Deployed Against Railroad Developers on Puyallup Land
Federal troops are dispatched to the Puyallup Reservation to physically stop a construction party from grading a railroad through Indigenous land.
- The Battle for Power in Tacoma’s Streetcar Industry
E.J. Felt reaches out to Snoqualmie Falls Power Company, highlighting a desperate attempt to bypass local utility monopolies.
- Missing Wife Returns to Claim Late Husband's Estate
After vanishing for months, a woman returns to Tacoma following the death of her husband, who succumbed to grief.
- The Girl Who Would Not Say Who Took Her
Reported kidnapped from her Seattle home, Katie Hackworth reappeared at a Tacoma children's home, telling reporters a mysterious woman had taken her from school.
- The Tacoma Bachelor Hoax
When a false newspaper report claimed the Mayor of Tacoma was soliciting wives for his countrymen, he was swamped with heartfelt letters from women across the country.
- The Struggle for the Puyallup Reservation
A legal war unfolds over railroad rights-of-way through the Puyallup Reservation, pitting federal troops against private developers as Indigenous residents face displacement.
- The Banker's Scandalous Opera Alley Spree
A Coupeville bank cashier’s disappearance turns into a public disgrace as reports emerge of his lavish debauchery in Tacoma’s red-light district.
- The Tacoma Fishing Fleet's Diplomatic War
Tacoma’s Chamber of Commerce takes on the British Empire to protect local halibut profits in the Hecate Strait.
- The Confidence Man of the Colonial Hotel
A prolific hotel thief, captured in Minneapolis with $12,000 in diamonds, claims he offloaded stolen jewels in Tacoma, Seattle, and Spokane.
- The Political Price of a Brother’s Seat
Tacoma residents accuse Congressman F. W. Cushman of trading the city's federal bench appointment for his own brother's gain.
- The Fugitive Clerk and the Victoria Sting
A Tacoma city official accused of forgery and embezzlement is nabbed by local officers after a high-stakes flight to Canada.
- The Port of Tacoma's Race for Global Trade
James J. Hill’s new steamship fleet creates a fierce rivalry between Tacoma and Seattle to secure the role of primary Pacific Northwest shipping hub.
- The Great Land Sell-Off
The Northern Pacific Railroad begins dumping vast swaths of Washington Territory land onto actual settlers for $2.60 an acre.
- The Iron Heel on the Toilers
A labor organizer warns that the U.S. Steel Corporation's wage cuts and anti-union tactics place the entire burden of industrial conflict on the backs of workers.
- The Boom Town on the Sound: Labor and Industry in 1877 Tacoma
A traveler’s dispatch from New Tacoma reports on the frenetic pace of local timber mills, the arrival of new industrial machinery, and the rapid expansion of the labor force as the city builds its future.
- The Grizzly at Point Defiance
A silver-tip grizzly escapes its cage at Tacoma's Point Defiance Park, wounding three park employees before being put down to protect the zoo’s deer and elk.
- The Tragedy at the Waterfront
A young Seattle woman's late-night walk leads to a fatal plunge into the bay, leaving behind a grieving husband and a city searching for answers.
- Locked Away for Being a Stranger
A Seattle man traveling to meet his brother in Tacoma finds himself swept up in a case of mistaken identity, thrown into a filthy, unventilated jail cell, and ignored by officials despite his pleas for evidence.
- Fatal Miscalculation at the Tacoma Railyard
A tragic accident involving a Northern Pacific Railway official highlights the brutal mechanical risks of the era's expanding infrastructure.
- The Quarantine of Tacoma: When a Hotel Became a Prison for Railroad Workers
In April 1898, a single case of smallpox in a Tacoma hotel triggered a massive quarantine that stranded dozens of railroad employees and paralyzed the city's transit network.
- The Tacoma Flower Clerk Who Woke Up an Heiress
Disowned at eighteen for marrying for love, a former Hotel Washington pantry keeper now running a Tacoma flower shop learns she has inherited ranches, gold mines and three hotels halfway around the world.