Research the archive
Narrow 25,724 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 |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 2 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 1 |
19 stories matching gape
- The Unlucky Yawn of Mr. Jackson
A Seattle man faces an awkward medical predicament after his jaw locks mid-yawn.
- A Child's Fatal Accident Near Palouse
A twelve-year-old boy is killed instantly after falling from a wagon.
- The Crumbling Sidewalk of James Street
For three weeks, a gaping hole on James Street has left residents navigating a mess, leaving neighbors to wonder if the city has forgotten the street commissioner exists.
- Sailor Jack Escapes City Jail Through Sawed Window
A prisoner known as 'Sailor Jack' saws through the bars of his cell and vanishes, leaving a gaping hole behind.
- The Dangerous Gap at Yesler’s Wharf
A gaping, unguarded hole in a major Seattle pier leaves two citizens injured and sparks a call for municipal accountability in the 1870s.
- A Tragic End in the Lance District
A rejected suitor's attempt to harm his rival ends in a fatal, self-inflicted gunshot wound behind a Tyler saloon.
- A Soup Kitchen Brawl
Two cooks at the Poodle Dog restaurant settle a professional dispute with knives and dinnerware.
- Violence in the Opium Dens of Colfax
A brutal feud between laborers in a remote Eastern Washington opium joint ends in a horrific shooting and a manhunt.
- A Logger's Final Despair
After being robbed of his life savings in a Tacoma resort, a distraught logger takes his own life in a series of desperate acts.
- The Schoolhouse Reunion: A Grandmother’s Reflection
A grandmother visits her granddaughter's rural school and finds herself transported back to her own youth, struggling to reconcile the modern fashions of schoolchildren with the enduring traditions of the classroom.
- The Banker’s Debt
A wealthy philanthropist discovers that his own neglect of small bills drove a local shoemaker to attempt suicide.
- The Devil's Own: Oak Harbor's Waggish Protest Against the Preacher
When a reverend tried to post a notice for his Sunday sermon in the Grange Hall, the locals of Oak Harbor responded with a satirical flyer that dared the Devil himself to show up.
- The Unladylike Triumph of a Determined Angler
A fishing trip turns into a chaotic, close-quarters wrestling match when a persistent angler finally secures her catch in an unconventional way.
- The Arctic Ghost Ships Found in a Seattle Paper
A haunting inventory of the lost Franklin Expedition, recovered by Lieutenant Schwatka, offers a somber look at the items that survived a generation in the ice.
- The Idle Crowd: Seattle's 1877 Moral Panic over 'Street Loafers'
A local editor observes the growing ranks of the unemployed and 'non-descript' men gathering on Seattle corners, questioning how they survive in a bustling, labor-dependent territory.
- Death Reared Its Horrid Head: Steam Heater Explosion Kills Two Men in Downtown Seattle
A careless Japanese fireman left a boiler unattended at Second and Washington, causing a catastrophic explosion that killed one man instantly and mortally wounded another.
- The Judge’s Double Life: Seduction, Abortion, and the Cover-Up That Shook Tacoma
In 1889, a young canvasser named Sadie Brantner took the stand to accuse Pierce County Probate Judge James Wickersham of luring her into a trap in Seattle, forcing an illegal abortion, and paying her off to silence. The trial revealed a web of deceit involving fake names, land fraud, and medical conspiracies.
- The Trial of Judge Wickersham: A Tacoma Scandal Over Land, Lies, and 'Delirium'
In February 1889, the trial of a powerful federal judge in Tacoma exposed a web of political corruption, land fraud, and sexual scandal involving a young woman named Sadie Brantner.
- A Circular Saw Opened His Skull—and He Stayed Conscious
At the Stetson Post Mill on Commercial Street, engineer Horatio Stetson crawled under a rip-saw table to fix a belt. The saw caught his head, cutting through bone and into his brain, yet he never lost consciousness.