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 |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1877 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1892 | 2 |
| 1893 | 2 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 2 |
18 stories matching loafer
- The Art of Professional Loafing
A satirical exchange in the Olympia Democratic about the 'Loafer Club' and the perils of career advice in the frontier.
- The First Socialist Manifesto in the Washington Territory
A bold reader writes to the Post-Intelligencer to challenge a local minister’s sermon, demanding justice for the working class and defending socialist principles as the only path to economic dignity.
- The Seattle Judge Who Stood Up to 'Professional' Idlers
When a woman shot her abusive husband in 1886, a Seattle judge refused to convict her, explicitly calling out a class of men who lived off the earnings of their wives' shame.
- Fire Ravages Olympia’s Government Buildings
The Surveyor General’s office, the Land Office, and a historic church are destroyed in a devastating overnight blaze.
- The Mob That Stopped a Cannery
Business owners in Everett face threats and intimidation for attempting to hire Chinese labor.
- The Mayor and the Judge Clash Over Profanity
A power struggle in Seattle’s municipal court erupted when the mayor and city prosecutor refused to follow a judge's orders to prosecute a case involving a 'cursing' boat captain.
- The Teamsters’ War Over Police Leadership
A group of Seattle teamsters organizes to nominate a new police chief, sparking a bitter war of words with the local Chronicle.
- The Myth of the 'Overcrowded' Frontier
In 1889, local papers pushed back against sensationalist claims that Seattle was a destitute wasteland, framing the 'idle' men on street corners not as victims of an economic crisis, but as voluntary loafers.
- The Great Rain-Soaked Barbecue of 1889
A much-hyped political feast in Seattle ends in a pathetic drizzle, empty plates, and heated accusations of corruption between the Republican and Democratic parties.
- Ballard's Post Office Moves Next Door to a Saloon—And Residents Are Furious
When the post office relocated to a building owned by saloonkeepers Cors & Wegner, Ballard citizens cried foul, accusing the mayor and postmaster of putting a public office in a den of vice.
- The Chehalis Inferno
A devastating blaze sweeps through four blocks of wooden buildings, leaving residents to wonder if firebugs are to blame for the city's second disaster in two months.
- The Fiendish 'Joke' at the Seattle Waterfront
A saloon keeper is arrested for a brutal assault on an intoxicated man, having stuffed a burning newspaper into the man's throat as a spectacle for his patrons.
- The Night Watchman Who Traded His Lantern for a Crab Net
After trading the damp misery of night-shift railroad duty for the docks, a Seattle man explains how he makes a living pulling crab from the bay—and why the job comes with its own set of neighborhood troubles.
- The English Sparrow Has Invaded Seattle — and the Songbirds Are Next
An 1895 editorial warns that the imported sparrow, already a pest in Eastern cities, has reached Puget Sound and will drive out native birds.
- The 'Corpse' Who Sat Up and Ran for the Bay
A wharf loafer mistaken for a corpse startled undertakers when he sat up in the receiving box, bolted for the water and fled uptown.
- The Tyrant of the High Seas: A Sailor’s Knife vs. a Mate’s Revolver
In a dramatic trial before U.S. Commissioner D.S. Smith, witnesses describe how the first mate of the brig *Sampson* beat a sailor into paralysis with an iron bar and revolver, sparking outrage over maritime abuse.
- 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.
- The Fruit-Seller's Wife Who Kept a Loaded Winchester by the Cradle
Left alone half the night with a two-month-old baby, a quiet Seattle housewife twice warned off an intruder — then fired a warning shot past his ear with the cool of a marksman.