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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 8 |
| 1858 | 3 |
| 1859 | 4 |
| 1861 | 8 |
| 1862 | 4 |
| 1863 | 4 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 55 |
| 1877 | 54 |
| 1878 | 36 |
| 1879 | 7 |
| 1880 | 8 |
| 1882 | 9 |
| 1883 | 50 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 50 |
| 1886 | 28 |
| 1887 | 25 |
| 1888 | 45 |
| 1889 | 98 |
| 1890 | 21 |
| 1891 | 102 |
| 1892 | 127 |
| 1893 | 96 |
| 1894 | 103 |
| 1895 | 150 |
| 1897 | 3 |
| 1898 | 13 |
| 1899 | 30 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1902 | 8 |
| 1903 | 77 |
| 1904 | 31 |
| 1905 | 10 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 25 |
| 1909 | 64 |
| 1910 | 19 |
| 1911 | 12 |
| 1912 | 7 |
| 1914 | 10 |
| 1915 | 14 |
| 1916 | 24 |
| 1917 | 14 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1923 | 7 |
| 1924 | 6 |
| 1925 | 2 |
| 1929 | 1 |
1,514 stories matching establish
- A Clerk’s Error Won Seattle an Army Post
A mix-up in the civil appropriation bill let the Secretary of War skip a site board and choose Magnolia Bluffs—giving Seattle a federal payroll and a decisive win over Tacoma.
- Seattle's Fight to Land the Army Post at Magnolia Bluff
In 1895, the Chamber of Commerce touted a federal garrison as a monthly windfall—if Tacoma did not steal it first.
- Before the Tide Lands Sold, Seattle Had to Erase Its Own Streets
Property owners rushed the City Council to vacate old street lines across Elliott Bay tide lands before a May 13 purchase deadline—or risk tangled titles and lost waterfront.
- The University’s Wish List: New Departments, New Money
In 1895, UW regents asked King County legislators for laboratories, professors and a geological survey—and argued that the whole state would benefit.
- Walla Walla’s 1884 Sales Pitch: From a Tent Store to a ‘Metropolitan’ City
A reprinted commercial sketch boasts of wheat, railroads, gasworks and thousands of souls — and lets slip the town’s whole origin story, from a tent on Mill Creek to the great fire of 1866.
- The $80,000 Cranberry Bog Behind the Ilwaco Beach
A state commissioner tours Pacific County's cranberry marsh — 1,600 acres, 7,280 bushels shipped to San Francisco, 200 pickers at fifty cents a bushel, and a company openly hoping to replace its Chinese crew with white labor.
- Seattle’s Legal Education Begins: Board Votes to Establish Law Department
In a decisive move at the University of Washington, regents approve the creation of a law school, marking a pivotal step in the institution's academic maturity.
- The Mail Comes to the Farm: White Bluffs Wins Rural Free Delivery
Washington's Post Office Department orders a tri-weekly carrier route out of White Bluffs to begin February 2, 1917 — provided every rancher on the line gets a box up in time.
- The City That Couldn't Build: A Letter from a Frustrated Investor
In February 1889, an anonymous writer lambasts Seattle’s Common Council for failing to establish street grades, arguing that this bureaucratic paralysis is the primary reason developers are withholding capital and leaving the city in a building slump.
- Olympia’s Fight for a Deep-Water Harbor
Citizens tell the harbor-line commissioners to claim Budd Inlet’s tide flats for public wharves—not a narrow waterway that would hand the waterfront to private owners.
- Fireboat or No Fireboat: Insurers Threaten a 25% Rate Hike
Underwriters tell the city to staff its fireboat properly or watch waterfront insurance premiums jump a quarter.
- Washington Sets First Minimum Wage Standards
A newly empowered industrial welfare commission begins enforcing minimum pay for women, girls, and minors across mercantile, laundry, and factory sectors.
- City Hall Hands a 50-Year Power Franchise to the New Electric Company
Newport’s council approves a long-term electric franchise, ties up a telephone ordinance in restrictions, orders street grades, and hears complaints about street preachers.
- Olympia Moves to Outlaw the Insanity Defense — and Gag the Press on Murders
With the 1909 session half gone, Washington's legislature advances local option and an anti-racetrack gambling bill, while a sweeping new criminal code would strip juries of the insanity plea and bar newspapers from covering homicides before trial.
- The Shipyard of the World
In 1876, a local editorial argued that Puget Sound’s immense timber wealth and strategic harbor position would inevitably make it the global hub for shipbuilding, urging Seattle business owners to subsidize the relocation of Eastern industry.
- The Judge Who Kept His Robes
A House committee found Spokane's Judge Jesse Arthur 'grossly improper' for the bench. The legislature then voted 21 to 47 to drop the whole matter.
- Department Stores Evade New Minimum Wage
Employers in Washington state find a loophole in the new $10 weekly pay law by cutting hours to avoid mandated rates.
- The Steam Laundry That Would Save Your Clothes (And Your Wallet)
In May 1877, Seattle businessman L.D. Frank announced a bold new venture: a steam-powered laundry on Commercial Street that promised to clean clothes faster and cheaper than the traditional Chinese method—while explicitly excluding Chinese workers.
- The Mill That Never Was: A Snohomish Land Deal and a Promise from Washington
While local men scramble for housing and business lots in the booming town of Snohomish, a mysterious letter from D.C. hints at federal support for a post route to Pullman, just as a major timber contract is awarded locally.
- The Lease a Husband Had No Right to Sign
A Tacoma mercantile firm stopped paying $500-a-month rent, arguing the leased property was community property and the wives had never signed. Washington’s Supreme Court said the lease was not absolutely void—but the tenants had rights too.
- The Farmer’s Cabinet: Why Seattle’s Papers Are Fighting a War in Washington
An editorial in the *Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer* argues against elevating the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet status, warning that it would create bureaucratic chaos and ignore the true role of federal oversight.
- Judge Strikes Down State Road Laws
A landmark superior court ruling declares the state's method for seizing private property for public roads unconstitutional, throwing years of county construction projects into legal limbo.
- The Winter War Blueprint: An 1858 Campaign to Subdue the Tribes
A field letter from the Indian war in Oregon and Washington urges the Army to occupy the Colville Valley, cut off Indigenous trade, and expel missionaries and Hudson’s Bay Company employees.
- The Tale of Two Towns: A Battle for the Depot
As the railroad bypasses established settlements, a bitter conflict erupts between long-time residents and land speculators creating a brand-new town three miles away.
- The Town Held Hostage by the Railroad
When the Northern Pacific Railroad bypassed an established town to create a company-owned rival, the residents were left in a fight for their city’s survival.
Also about this, in other words
- Drafting the Law of the Sound
A legislative proposal to appoint a formal Board of Pilot Commissioners for the Puget Sound and Juan de Fuca Straits.
- Quinault and Quil-ich-ulte Reservation Established by Treaty
Superintendent of Indian Affairs William W. Miller formally establishes boundaries for the Quinault and Queets lands, warning settlers of trespassing.
- The Governor’s Ultimatum on Indigenous Land
Governor Isaac I. Stevens issues a public warning regarding unauthorized settlement on lands reserved for Indigenous use.
- The Landlady’s Fourth of July Ultimatum
A boarding house owner demands that her tenant stop practicing his political speeches to keep the peace and the stair-rods intact.
- The Great Constitutional Gamble: How Washington Will Become a State
With the enabling act signed, the territory prepares for a historic election in May to frame a constitution. The clock is ticking toward July 1st, when delegates will meet in Olympia to decide the fate of the new state.
- The Wealthy Landowner and the Guardianship Fight
A judge rules that being a 'habitual drunkard' is not sufficient legal grounds to seize control of a man's assets, thwarting his children's attempt to secure their inheritance.
- Establishing Washington’s First Public School System
A legislative act outlining the structure, funding, and local oversight for common schools across the Washington Territory.
- The Foundation of the State: A Warning Against Corporate Capture
In March 1889, just weeks before Washington’s statehood, the Post-Intelligencer warns voters that powerful corporations are maneuvering to control the new government’s constitution.