Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 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 |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 13 |
| 1876 | 80 |
| 1877 | 58 |
| 1878 | 30 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 20 |
| 1882 | 20 |
| 1883 | 56 |
| 1884 | 19 |
| 1885 | 65 |
| 1886 | 38 |
| 1887 | 43 |
| 1888 | 39 |
| 1889 | 79 |
| 1891 | 48 |
| 1892 | 131 |
| 1893 | 143 |
| 1894 | 191 |
| 1895 | 233 |
| 1896 | 2 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 50 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 14 |
| 1904 | 10 |
| 1909 | 5 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 1 |
| 1928 | 4 |
| 1929 | 3 |
1,417 stories matching get
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- The Man Who Thought He Owned Seattle Died Chasing a Ghost Fortune
Henry Zechow spent nine years and a small army of lawyers trying to claim an uncle's imaginary empire—including a block of downtown Seattle—before his body turned up in the Fraser River.
- A Creameryman Confesses: 'Our Business Conditions Are Rotten'
In an unusually candid letter to The Ranch, the manager of the Rockwood Creamery Co. says reckless price-cutting and smooth-talking rivals are cheating Washington dairy farmers and quietly ruining the state's butter.
- A Missing Man, a Dead Wife, and a Sewing Machine Full of Money
Joseph Von Lingenau vanished after his wife died in childbirth. His friends fear murder; his neighbors remember a man coming apart.
- The Wooden Revolver That Sprung Tom Blanck
A murderer awaiting appeal in the King County jail used a hand-carved fake gun to force his way past the night jailer, then vanished into the Black River woods as a sheriff's posse rushed south by special train.
- The Country Estate as Medicine: Why Seattle’s Elite Are Buying Farms to Save Their Nerves
A satirical essay in the Daily Intelligencer argues that small country plots are not financial investments, but essential health remedies for city professionals suffering from 'trade winds' and nervous exhaustion.
- The Judge Who Gambled Away His Office: Soderberg’s Dramatic Resignation
After the grand jury returned five indictments for extortion and malfeasance in office, District Attorney Joseph Soderberg walked into court, tendered his resignation, and declared he would repay every illegal fee to the county treasury.
- Coxey's Army on Trial: Seattle Laborers Testify About the Yakima Gunfire
In federal court in Seattle, members of the Commonweal Army described how deputy marshals clubbed and shot at unemployed men trying to ride a train east to present the Coxey bill to Congress.
- The Wholesaler Tells the Growers the Truth: 'We Don't Love You'
Sixteen years in the Seattle commission trade and no patience left, R. Merchant tells a room of fruit growers that no middleman has ever cared about them — and that neat, uniform packing, not grievance, is the only thing that ever got a farmer paid.
- A Michigan Orator Packs the Armory and Rides Down the Populists
Roswell G. Horr brings the Republican gospel of protection and sound money to a standing-room crowd in Seattle — and turns the free-silver men in the hall into the evening's comedy act.
- The Tailor, the Raffle Ticket, and the Entire Afternoon Police Force
A well-dressed Californian sold chances on a $30 suit of clothes to nearly every patrolman in Seattle. Then the drawing night came and went — and the swindled cops hauled him in themselves.
- Twenty Inches of Snow Bring Seattle to a Standstill
A February 1893 blizzard blocks streetcars, freezes water pipes and threatens a coal famine, forcing schools to close and residents to melt snow for drinking water.
- A Steamboat Inspector on Trial, and the Men Who Kicked
A Seattle courtroom hears masters and pilots defend Capt. Bryant against charges of favoritism—and admit that the men who complain are often the incompetent ones.
- The Engineer’s Ash-Box Ghost: A Tale of New Year’s Eve Peril
In a column dated October 1870, the Seattle Daily Intelligencer reprints a harrowing tale from an old engineer about surviving a wreck by hiding under his locomotive's ash pan during a blizzard.
- Seattle’s Post Office Was a Public Nuisance
Letters sat for a day, stamps ran short, and clerks were worked to exhaustion while the postmaster earned about $85 a month. In 1883, Seattle’s mail service was barely functioning.
- The Bond Buyer Likes Seattle’s Credit—and Its Empty Storefronts
W. H. Harris tells the Rainier Club that the West is recovering from the panic and that Seattle has fewer vacant buildings, pro rata, than Chicago or St. Paul.
- The Potatoes Looked Fine on Top
A Moxee grower went to Seattle to sell 27 tons of Burbanks and came back with a warning about crooked packing and the damage to the Yakima name.
- Under Fire on the Way to Spokane: Seattle's Militia Rode Into a Rail War
Col. Joseph Green's detachment returns from Spokane after escorting a mutinied company through burned bridges, ambushes and striker country—and the city turns out to cheer.
- Pay for a Job That Wasn't There: Seattle's Employment-Agency Scam
A city council committee heard workers describe paying fees to G.W. Crane's employment office and arriving to find no jobs, with agents accused of splitting fees with contractors.
- The Old Man’s Last Stand: A Father’s Flight from Greedy Heirs Ends in a Sheriff’s Chase
P.V. Thorpe, an elderly pioneer fleeing false rape accusations and property theft by his son and son-in-law, was arrested for carrying a revolver in Seattle—only to be vindicated when the truth about his family’s blackmail scheme came to light.
- Telescoped at the Crossing: A Grant Street Horror
When a Northern Pacific freight train plowed into an electric streetcar on May 20, 1909, one man died and dozens were mangled in the icy water below. The crash exposed dangerous speeds and negligent watchmen at a city intersection that remains vital today.
- Two Men Asked to Test a Seattle Schooner. Then They Tried to Kill Its Captain.
A would-be buyer and his genteel companion lured Capt. Jud La Moure into Puget Sound, attacked him with a lead sounding weight, and demanded his gold watch—until he produced a hidden revolver.
- The Wooden Revolver That Freed Ten Prisoners
Thomas Blanck held a jailer hostage with a carved fake gun, emptied the King County jail, and vanished into Seattle's streets.
- A Railroad Manager in Seattle Pities the Men Who Paid to Hear Debs
John M. Egan slips into the Rainier-Grand Hotel to denounce Eugene Debs as a well-fed agitator—and to explain why the railroads are broke.
- Seven Months at Sea: The State of Maine’s Ordeal
The State of Maine left New York in July 1892 and reached Seattle 201 days later, her crew disabled by saltwater boils, her water spoiled, and her captain forced to beat men to the pumps.
Also about this, in other words
- The Art of Getting Helped
A clever traveler tricks two impatient men into doing the labor he was too tired to finish.
- The 1876 Land Hustle
A classic real estate promotion from the era offers a 'buy one, get one' incentive to settlers willing to build homes in early Seattle.
- The Power to Seize: A New Law reshapes Seattle
A sweeping new state law gives cities unprecedented authority to condemn private property for public projects, fundamentally changing the relationship between the city and its citizens.