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 |
|---|---|
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1872 | 4 |
| 1876 | 29 |
| 1877 | 22 |
| 1878 | 27 |
| 1879 | 4 |
| 1880 | 4 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 18 |
| 1884 | 3 |
| 1885 | 19 |
| 1886 | 4 |
| 1887 | 12 |
| 1888 | 12 |
| 1889 | 45 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 21 |
| 1892 | 33 |
| 1893 | 42 |
| 1894 | 56 |
| 1895 | 83 |
| 1898 | 2 |
| 1899 | 13 |
| 1903 | 16 |
| 1904 | 11 |
| 1908 | 7 |
| 1909 | 25 |
| 1910 | 17 |
| 1911 | 9 |
| 1912 | 3 |
| 1914 | 14 |
| 1915 | 6 |
| 1916 | 11 |
| 1917 | 5 |
| 1923 | 2 |
| 1924 | 6 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
599 stories matching list
- The 'Habitual Drunkard' List
A proposed law would have forced Seattle barkeepers to publicly post a list of 'habitual drunkards' in their establishments, effectively blacklisting them from purchasing alcohol.
- The Price of Ownership: Seattle’s 1888 Delinquent Tax List
A sprawling registry of property owners, from the prominent to the 'Unknown,' failing to pay their dues during Seattle’s rapid expansion.
- The Forgotten Law That Listed Walla Walla's Drinkers
A judge in Walla Walla is shocking the state by enforcing an 1883 statute that forces saloon keepers to post lists of 'habitual drunkards' in their establishments.
- The 'Unfair List' War
A local businessman threatens a newspaper editor over his inclusion on a labor union's blacklist, sparking a clash over the power of organized labor in Everett.
- The Great Seattle Tax Delinquency List
A vast, published ledger of delinquent property owners across Seattle's emerging neighborhoods exposes the precariousness of early land ownership.
- The Political Grudge Match in Rosalia
A legislative seat is caught in a bitter proxy war after a list of locals is circulated to pressure a politician’s vote.
- The Fight Over Public Printing in Snohomish
A judge rules that the county treasurer has the discretion to choose which newspaper receives taxpayer money for publishing delinquent tax lists.
- The New Rules for the Ballot Box
A new election regulation threatens to disenfranchise candidates in remote areas, sparking fears of chaos in the upcoming vote.
- The Great Seattle Tax Auction of 1885
Before Seattle was a tech hub, it was a frontier town defined by rapid land speculation and the inevitable, painful process of tax foreclosures on the city's building blocks.
- A Bureaucratic Duel in Mason County
A tart, hilarious correspondence reveals the friction between an autocratic Adjutant General and a defiant county official in early Washington.
- The Delinquent Tax Rolls of Territorial Seattle
A haunting, granular list of property owners from 1875 and 1876 whose land was seized by the county, documenting the precarious nature of early Seattle ownership.
- The Prosecutor vs. the All-Male Jury
King County Prosecuting Attorney John R. Bradshaw demands the inclusion of women on jury lists, citing Washington Territory’s progressive suffrage laws.
- The Auditor’s Scathing Reply
A war of words erupts between a Mason County auditor and the Adjutant-General over military duty records.
- The Great Delinquency: Snohomish’s 1878 Tax Auction
A sprawling list of property seizures offers a rare window into the instability of early Snohomish settlers, who faced total loss of their homesteads for debts as small as twenty-two cents.
- The Price of Building a City: 1877 Tax Defaults
As Seattle began to rapidly expand, a long list of property owners faced the loss of their land for unpaid taxes—revealing the precarious nature of early urban ownership.
- City Treasurer Decamps as Embezzlement Scandal Rocks Seattle
City Treasurer Adolph Krug has fled the city after an audit revealed a $20,000 deficit in his accounts.
- The City Collector’s Year-End Deadline
With the dawn of 1877 approaching, Seattle’s City Collector issues a final warning for delinquent taxpayers: pay up or lose your property.
- The Padded Guest List
A political movement to reform Seattle government gets caught red-handed inflating its support with the names of prominent citizens who never agreed to join.
- The Retired Colonel and the County Treasurer
A judge instructs a Grand Jury on whether a retired U.S. Army officer is legally permitted to hold the civilian office of King County Treasurer.
- The Price of Ownership: 1877 Snohomish Tax Delinquencies
A rare window into the early land-holding patterns of the Snohomish valley, listing the citizens, acres, and pennies owed to the county treasury during the formative years of the settlement.
- The Real Estate Boom at Ronton Addition
Investors and business leaders scramble to buy into Seattle's rapid expansion.
- Labor Council Blacklists Everett Utility Companies
After failing to secure a meeting with management, the local trade union council votes to place Everett Railway & Light and Snoqualmie Light on the official 'unfair' list.
- The 'Unfair' Blacklist of 1910
The Everett Trades Council issues a sweeping blacklist of local businesses and contractors, pressuring workers to boycott those deemed hostile to union interests.
- The Fake Canal Subscribers That Exposed a Seattle Newspaper War
In 1892 the Seattle Telegraph touted a popular subscription fund for the Lake Washington canal. The Post-Intelligencer called the list a confidence game built on the names of prominent citizens who never pledged a cent.
- The Cricket Runs Aground
A steamer at Olympia drifts from its moorings and is submerged by the rising tide.