Research the archive
Narrow 22,457 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 |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1886 | 2 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 2 |
| 1891 | 4 |
| 1892 | 6 |
| 1893 | 7 |
| 1894 | 12 |
| 1895 | 2 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1917 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
46 stories matching patterson
- Four Lawyers Nearly Came to Blows Over a Seattle Divorce
A bitter property fight in the Steel divorce case turned a Seattle courtroom into a near-brawl — until the judge and a twenty-pound paperweight restored order.
- White Bluffs Retail Market Consolidates
The Produce Company buys out Patterson Company, effectively ending retail competition in town.
- The Phantom Title: How a Dead Man’s Land Became Seattle’s Newest Addition
A bizarre chain of custody involving a deceased San Francisco capitalist, a paralyzed attorney, and a speculator reveals the chaotic legal origins of Burke's Second Addition.
- The Ghost Deed: How a Secret Land Grab Stole Seattle’s Future
A legal battle erupts over Burke’s Second Addition after it is revealed that W.H. Bourn Sr. used a dying partner to hold title to prime land, leaving his estate vulnerable to fraud.
- The Point Roberts Dinner Party Murder
A celebratory dinner at the border turned fatal when a drunken argument over whiskey escalated into a stabbing, leaving one man dead and a community in shock.
- The Battle for Burke’s Second Addition
A legal dispute over property ownership pulls in dozens of local residents and sets the city's legal community against one another.
- The Landlord’s Lie: How a Seattle Developer Stole His Own Property
In 1888, real estate magnate W.B. Bourn Jr. was forced to publish a public defense after discovering that his father had secretly transferred the title of his home and land to another party—leaving him with nothing but a contract.
- Tacoma's $1.75 Million Water Deal Went Bad—and Taxpayers Were Just Catching On
A special dispatch from Tacoma reports that the city's purchase of the old water plant was sold on a false promise of mountain water, while a new bidder offers a cheaper gravity system.
- Tacoma Sues Water Company for $1 Million Over a Dry Promise
City officials say Patterson Springs delivered a fraction of the promised flow, making the costly gravity system practically worthless.
- Trapped on the Columbia River Ice
A bank cashier and his stage coach driver find themselves stranded on shifting ice flows until an Indigenous horseman orchestrates a daring rescue.
- Jailer Accused of Aiding Prisoner’s Escape in Tacoma
A jail cook alleges that a jailer pressured him to flee during an administrative transition, raising questions about a recent high-profile escape.
- He Walked Out of His House on Park Street and Simply Vanished
H. S. Patterson left the corner of Park Street and Boyer Avenue on a Monday afternoon. His wife was 'almost distracted,' and a diligent police search had turned up nothing at all.
- The Cutting-Edge Technology of an Arctic Expedition
In 1885, a state-of-the-art surveying vessel arrived in Port Townsend, beginning a multi-year mission to map the treacherous and uncharted coastlines of Alaska.
- A Business Exit from the Frontier
S.D. Patterson, the first merchant to open a shop in the new town of White Bluffs, is liquidating his inventory and heading for the coast.
- The Tragic End of the Ferndale
A British bark shattered by Grays Harbor breakers leaves sixteen dead, but a local woman's bravery saves three survivors from the surf.
- Tacoma’s Costly Water Scandal
City officials discover that the expensive gravity-fed water system sold to the public is a fiction, sparking a search for accountability.
- The Great Tacoma Water Heist
City leaders uncover a massive discrepancy in the city's newly purchased water plant after boosters inflated the daily flow of local springs.
- Gamblers Threaten a Crusading Preacher
A Tacoma clergyman and the local newspaper face death threats after exposing a thriving municipal gambling underground.
- Street Preacher Faces Trial for Pioneer Square Sermon
A street orator's right to speak on public planking sparks a debate over whether the Salvation Army's influence creates a double standard for public space.
- The Elephant-Powered Sawmills of Burma
A visiting mill manager shares tales of jungle timber operations where elephants handle everything from the logs to the finished lumber.
- The Grain Thief's Defense
An accused thief avoids conviction by arguing that his alleged crime was actually an attempt to settle a debt.
- When the Skagit River Swallowed Mount Vernon: The Great Flood of 1894
A sudden heat wave melted mountain snow, sending rivers over their banks and putting whole towns underwater. In Mount Vernon, 300 men fought a losing battle against the rising Skagit.
- Nineteen Buildings Gone Before Breakfast
With no fire department and only buckets, the Kitsap County seat of Sidney watched its entire business district burn to the ground in three hours — then promised to rebuild as Seattle had.
- A Fire Started in a Brothel. It Took Centralia's Opera House and Newspaper.
A blaze behind a Tower Avenue saloon jumped to the Binkley opera house and the Daily News office, gutting a commercial block despite heavy rain and a fierce firefight.
- The Great Northern Strikers Hold the Line
Despite pressure from commercial bodies and federal military intervention, railway workers in Seattle and across the Pacific Northwest refuse to abandon their demand for fair wages.