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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1876 | 13 |
| 1877 | 14 |
| 1878 | 12 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 7 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 8 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1888 | 12 |
| 1889 | 16 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 21 |
| 1892 | 17 |
| 1893 | 14 |
| 1894 | 23 |
| 1895 | 38 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 5 |
| 1899 | 4 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 18 |
| 1904 | 6 |
| 1905 | 3 |
| 1907 | 2 |
| 1908 | 10 |
| 1909 | 4 |
| 1914 | 1 |
| 1915 | 5 |
| 1916 | 3 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1928 | 1 |
281 stories matching finest
- New Whatcom’s Ledger Had a Credit Side, Too
After a defalcation and the Panic of 1893, New Whatcom’s mayor and a local editor argued over whether the city was broke or merely bruised.
- Seven Hundred Miles on Horseback: Two Seattle Men Ride the Raw Edge of Eastern Washington
C. W. Loomis and E. D. Manning return from a month in the saddle — snow-choked passes, waterless deserts, blasting on the Great Northern grade, a mining camp on edge after a killing, and a Colville reservation not yet legally open to whites.
- The Sunshine in the Bottle: Kennewick's Grape Juice Wins the World
A homegrown experiment on Second Street becomes a gold-medal winner at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, while Kennewick cherries earn praise in Philadelphia.
- A Pigeon Flew 100 Miles to Report From Mount Rainier
A carrier pigeon from the Starlee-Meeker expedition delivers dispatches, tall trees, trout, and one very sleepy doctor.
- Snohomish, 1898: A Ferry Claim Becomes a Booster's Dream City
A promotional tour of the inland Puget Sound town traces its founding by I.C. Ferguson, its lumber and fishing wages, and the railroad that turned a river landing into a self-described city of homes.
- The Richland Turkey Boom
A progressive local farmer strikes a lucrative deal with the finest hotel in Spokane, signaling prosperity for the region's poultry industry.
- The Boom That Never Was: How Utsalaay Tried to Steal Seattle's Thunder
In 1901, a rival town on Puget Sound launched an aggressive land sales campaign, claiming its harbor was superior and its resources 'inexhaustible,' while Seattle’s own economy sat in a dull slump.
- The Gold in Swauk Creek — and the Railroad That Wanted the Ground Under It
Miners in Kittitas County had quietly pulled a fortune in placer gold from Swauk Creek for over a decade. When the Northern Pacific moved to patent the land, they finally went public with the numbers.
- Seattle's Canal Backers Turn Up the Pressure—and the Cash
Boosters behind the Lake Washington canal reported fresh subscriptions, promised a gravity water supply for the tide flats, and argued the city could not afford to miss its chance.
- The Bold Heist at the Washington Hotel
Thieves in Seattle cracked a 500-pound safe in broad daylight after rolling it from the city's finest hotel.
- When Seattle's Taps Ran Dry, One Citizen Took the City to Task
A resident of the city's eastern heights petitions the Seattle City Council over empty pipes, fire risk, and water bills—with sarcasm aimed at every authority from City Hall to the White House.
- Saying Goodbye to Seattle's Finest Residence
A historic home, once the city’s grandest, is rolled away to make room for progress.
- The Apple Trees That Sailed From England in a Sea Captain's Cabin
Seeds saved from a farewell dinner in 1833 were planted at Fort Nisqually and grew into the finest apple trees north of the Columbia. Now an editor wants Tacoma to move them to a park before the squirrels of Rosston are their only company.
- The Canal That Would Give Seattle the Finest Harbor on the Pacific
An 1895 editorial urges Seattleites to back a half-million-dollar subsidy to fill the tide flats and dig a canal linking Puget Sound with Lake Washington.
- The Log Jam That Held Back the Skagit
Settlers bet their savings on cutting a channel through a massive timber jam—and begged Sound steamboat captains to link the Skagit to Seattle.
- A Moldy Box at the Wharf: How Customs Agents Caught a Father-Son Smuggling Team
A $1,500 shipment of fine woolens from Canada was tracked from Whatcom to Seattle, leading to the arrest of R. Simons and his son J. Simons.
- A Road, a Railroad and a 10x10 Schoolhouse: Into the Wilds of Clallam County
S. W. Clark returns from the far western corner of the Olympic Peninsula with tales of rich soil, bachelors' cabins, Indian-canoe supply lines and a weekly paper published in the forest.
- The Nancy Came to Town on a Sled—and Ended Up Keel-Up in the Riverbank
Newport's finest new motor launch was meant to link the town with Metaline. Then the unloading crew lost control on an icy grade and sent $300 worth of brass, oak, and electric lights over the bank.
- The Loss of a Landmark: Cyrus Walker’s Port Gamble Home
A catastrophic early-morning blaze consumes one of the finest residences in Port Gamble, resulting in a loss valued at over five thousand dollars.
- The Legislators Who Came to See a Ditch—and Left Believers
A steamboat tour of Smith Cove and Lake Union turns Eastern Washington lawmakers into ship-canal converts.
- North Yakima’s Finest Track
A newly completed race track in North Yakima promises to be the premier site for horse training in the Pacific Northwest, with local boosters already planning for a major September meet.
- An Ellensburg Merchant's Stock Goes Up in Smoke
A mysterious blaze gutted E. K. Fugarty's mercantile store, destroying one of Central Washington's finest stocks and leaving a heavy, still-uncalculated loss.
- Camp Kelpie: A Seattle Hunting Party in the Last Great Bear Country
In 1895, Seattle sportsmen pitched camp on Hood Canal between the Duckabush and Hamma Hamma rivers and found a wilderness thick with black bear, salmon, and one very unlucky tenderfoot.
- A Bucket Brigade Saves the Barn, but the Gleichman Ranch House Is Gone
An early-evening blaze of unknown origin destroyed one of the finest houses on the Highlands Fruit Company ranch — a $4,000 loss that neighbors could only stand and watch.
- The Palace on the Hill: A Glimpse into Seattle’s Victorian Splendor
A rare 1885 look inside the 'stately' McNaught residence, a mansion built to impress at Third and Marion.
Also about this, in other words
- The Case for Naming an Olympia Street After Judge Hewitt
A memorial sermon for a territorial judge becomes a plea to carve his name into Olympia's street map—and a meditation on what makes a public life worth remembering.
- The Peeping Captain and the Landlady
A Seattle municipal court case reveals a bizarre dispute over a rental property, featuring an spying tenant and allegations of a framed morality crime.
- The Price of Perfection in 1877 Snohomish
Before the fairground became a modern fixture, a meticulously itemized list of premiums reveals what pioneer families valued most—from the size of a prize turnip to the skill of a young girl's hand-stitched dress.
- A Frontier Oasis in Snohomish
A look at the amenities of the premier boarding house in Snohomish, promising first-class board and the finest spirits in the territory.
- The Unbeatable Guarantee of Elliott M. Best
In 1876, a Seattle shoemaker promised that if his hand-sewn boots broke, he’d replace them for free.
- The Price of Elegance in 1883
A look at the luxury fabrics and household goods enticing early Seattleites at the Golden Rule Bazaar.
- The 'Pompous Autocrat' of the Sound
A Seattle newspaper lashes out at a revenue cutter captain who refused to aid a vessel in distress, claiming his uniform shouldn't be 'rubbed the wrong way.'