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 | 22 |
| 1876 | 78 |
| 1877 | 66 |
| 1878 | 45 |
| 1879 | 2 |
| 1880 | 23 |
| 1882 | 15 |
| 1883 | 63 |
| 1884 | 30 |
| 1885 | 65 |
| 1886 | 43 |
| 1887 | 52 |
| 1888 | 40 |
| 1889 | 92 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 49 |
| 1892 | 184 |
| 1893 | 166 |
| 1894 | 189 |
| 1895 | 225 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1898 | 3 |
| 1899 | 55 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 19 |
| 1904 | 8 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1916 | 2 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1924 | 2 |
| 1928 | 1 |
| 1929 | 2 |
1,550 stories matching old
- The Chief's Daughter in the Shadow of the City Named for Her Father
A San Francisco Chronicle correspondent visits Princess Angeline in her Seattle shack and finds the city proudly carving her father's face on a new business block while his daughter lives on charity.
- The Snake in the Parlor: How Two Con Artists Drained an Elderly Man Dry
In May 1877, John Dowd and his accomplice targeted a respected Seattle citizen with a fake land deal, winning his trust before stealing his watch, cash, and dignity at a local saloon.
- Farewell to the Old University: Seattle's Alumni Gather One Last Time in the Original U.W. Buildings
Nearly two hundred graduates, regents and old students filled the University of Washington's original downtown rooms for a farewell banquet, portraits of the founders, and a toast to the classes that would carry the school to its new campus.
- The Man Who Wouldn't Die: The Last Survivor of the Alamo Walks Among Us
A heroic frontiersman named Jimmy Kennon has resurfaced in Washington Territory, proving false reports of his death. He claims to be the sole survivor of the Battle of the Alamo and a legendary scout who once rescued a captive from Sioux hands.
- The Father Who Stopped a Play to Steal His Daughter
A wealthy Indianapolis patriarch tracks his romantic daughter to Seattle in 1876, only to find she has eloped with a lawyer and vanished into the West.
- A Legislative Committee Finds the University of Washington Packed, Broke, and Worth Building
After touring the cramped old campus and the rising new grounds between Lake Union and Lake Washington, a joint legislative committee urges bonds, more books, a smaller board of regents, and a dry zone around the university.
- 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.
- The Old Settlers' Legislative Fantasy
In an 1871 satirical 'Act,' a Seattle newspaper mocked the arrival of ambitious newcomers by proposing that long-time residents receive supreme, legally mandated authority.
- 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 Bell in the Woods: How Seattle Built Its First University
A 34-year anniversary feature on the Territorial University: 48 laborers, $2-a-day wages, lumber from Port Blakely, and an old bell that warned ships in fog and rang for hangings.
- The Old Union Flag
A group of Seattle schoolboys preparing for a dance discovered a historic, weather-beaten Union flag—triggering a local effort to preserve the banner that once flew over the Civil War-era Union League.
- The 'Damn the Old Soldiers' Scandal of 1886
A political rumor, a fiery public denial, and the high-stakes battle for the soul of Washington Territory.
- The Integrity Test of 1876
A young dressmaker, struggling against the poverty of pioneer-era Seattle, faces a life-changing moral dilemma when she discovers a hidden fortune in an old waistcoat.
- 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.
- The Vigilantes' Ghost: Seattle's Dark Secret in Two Maple Trees
A poem published in the *Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer* reveals the city’s foundational myth: that its current 'peaceable' order was bought with the blood of six men hanged by a secret committee when the law failed to act.
- The Variety Palace That Became a Business Block
John Cort's Standard Theater, where rival bands paraded in Pioneer Place and 'box rustlers' rode through the streets, is being remodeled into ordinary commercial space at South Second and Washington.
- The Hidden Hoard of Seattle's Recluse
When two elderly men were found dead in a filthy, squalid room, a subsequent search revealed a small fortune stashed in bedposts and rags.
- The Actor, The Play, and the Lawsuit That Stopped the Show
A bitter legal battle over the rights to 'Old '49' erupts in Seattle as playwright Joaquin Miller and actor McKee Rankin spar over authorship and royalties.
- Old Bill Davis, Bare-Knuckle Champion, Arrives to Open Seattle Gym
A 63-year-old former world champion shares a life spanning the Mexican War, the California Gold Rush, and consular posts in Japan and China—and picks the winners for the Sullivan-Corbett fight.
- The Circus Crooks Meet Chief Rogers' Shadow
Seattle police pair a detective with every known short-change and gim-flam man at the circus, but not before an old islander is nearly taken for $60.
- The Widow, the Missing Will, and the Yesler Homestead
Mary Booth lived nineteen years at Sixth and Jefferson before Henry Yesler's promised bequest vanished and the house passed into his estate.
- A Son Takes the Stand Against His Father in a Seattle Murder Trial
Prosecutors in the second Wilcox trial alleged that Charlotte Fetting's murder was a conspiracy involving her son-in-law—and the witnesses included the son-in-law's own teenage son.
- The First Wedding in Seattle, Celebrated Forty-Two Years Later
David and Louisa Denny gather four generations of pioneers at their Temperance Street home, where relics of the 1850s—and the certificate from Seattle’s first marriage—turn an anniversary into a founding story.
- The Ferryman of the Dark River
An encounter on the waterfront reveals the quiet, lingering melancholy of a man reflecting on the 'old timey days' and the hard reality of post-slavery life.
- The Great Cat Heist: How 'Old Tom' Became Seattle's Most Wanted Feline
A market cat’s affection for stolen kittens turns a quiet afternoon into a scandal of the highest order.
Also about this, in other words
- The Old Song of Reactionary Politics
A 1891 editorial draws a biting parallel between resistance to child protection laws in India and the stalling tactics of anti-progressives in the American West.
- The Old Farmer and the Child Bride
A 50-year-old farmer and a 12-year-old girl enter a marriage that ends in a messy, litigious divorce in the Seattle courts.
- The Great 'Old Junction' Saloon Scandal of 1871
When the city's most beloved watering hole shut its doors, 10,000 disgruntled Seattleites felt the thirst.
- The Last Laugh of 'Old Si': A Black Veteran's Take on War and Wages in Pioneer Seattle
In a rare moment of candid journalism from 1877, the *Daily Intelligencer* sits down with 'Old Si,' a local African American man who served as a Union soldier. His unvarnished take on racial loyalty, wages, and the upcoming Centennial Exposition reveals the complex social fabric of early Seattle.