Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 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 | 2 |
| 1858 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1861 | 1 |
| 1862 | 2 |
| 1871 | 2 |
| 1872 | 14 |
| 1876 | 57 |
| 1877 | 65 |
| 1878 | 56 |
| 1879 | 7 |
| 1880 | 21 |
| 1882 | 25 |
| 1883 | 165 |
| 1884 | 159 |
| 1885 | 122 |
| 1886 | 77 |
| 1887 | 75 |
| 1888 | 58 |
| 1889 | 196 |
| 1890 | 37 |
| 1891 | 147 |
| 1892 | 247 |
| 1893 | 261 |
| 1894 | 234 |
| 1895 | 257 |
| 1897 | 9 |
| 1898 | 29 |
| 1899 | 33 |
| 1900 | 6 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 86 |
| 1904 | 73 |
| 1905 | 17 |
| 1907 | 13 |
| 1908 | 73 |
| 1909 | 159 |
| 1910 | 55 |
| 1911 | 7 |
| 1912 | 3 |
| 1914 | 16 |
| 1915 | 19 |
| 1916 | 41 |
| 1917 | 18 |
| 1922 | 3 |
| 1923 | 12 |
| 1924 | 7 |
| 1928 | 1 |
2,971 stories matching railroad
- Railroads Battle for Seattle's Tide Flats
Multiple railroad companies propose a sweeping reconfiguration of Seattle's waterfront, including a union terminal and the removal of Railroad Avenue, as the city's tide lands become the prize of a growing transportation war.
- The Governor Against the Rails
Governor Miles C. Moore denounces the corrupting influence of the railroad lobby in Washington state politics.
- The Railway Capture of the Public Domain
A scathing look at how land office officials transitioned into high-paying railroad positions after engineering favorable rulings for the corporate giants of the West.
- Railroad Lobbyists Left Grumbling in Olympia
A legislative meeting with railroad attorneys devolved into a farce when key senators failed to show, leaving the powerful corporation representatives dazed and empty-handed.
- When Seattle Tried to Break the Railroad's Grip
Before the city was a tech hub, it was a battleground for political autonomy against the suffocating influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- Legislature Debates Railroad Control
A fiery session at Olympia pits regional interests against railroad power as lawmakers debate how to regulate freight rates.
- Northern Pacific Moves to Control Tacoma's Railroad Avenue
How the Northern Pacific Railroad maneuvered the city council to seize prime tide-flat property, effectively bottling up Tacoma's harbor and blocking competition.
- Olympia Committee Proposes a Railroad Commission
As Washington Territory moves toward statehood, local reformers push for a powerful Railroad Commission to curb the unchecked influence of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
- The Railroad That Decided It Did Not Have to Obey the State
Great Northern built a $20,000 depot at Odessa as a gift to a friendly town — while flatly ignoring orders from the Washington Railroad Commission. Now the commission says it will prosecute.
- The Railroad Wanted 400 Feet; the Landowners Said 200
When the Northern Pacific tried to fence a 400-foot right-of-way near Bucoda, neighboring property owners pulled up the posts and dared the railroad to sue.
- Railroad Shopmen Plot a Grand Union Federation
A secret initiative seeks to unite mechanical trades across every railroad west of the Mississippi to force a general wage hike.
- The Ghost of a Rail Land Grab
A legislative power play over a parcel of land shows that in the early days of Washington Territory, legal maneuvering was as much a part of town-building as the railroads themselves.
- The Railroads Tried to Buy a Senate Seat in Olympia
With three transcontinental lines reportedly backing John L. Wilson for the U.S. Senate, the Post-Intelligencer warns that Washington's legislature is not for sale.
- The Great Northern Pacific Railroad Robbery
In 1878, Seattle citizens packed a town hall to condemn the Northern Pacific Railroad, alleging that corporate greed and land fraud were strangling the territory's economic future.
- Northern Pacific Railroad System Collapses into Receivership
Four local branch rail lines in Washington are placed under court control as the main Northern Pacific system fails to cover operating costs.
- 'The Railroads Have Had It Long Enough'
A railroad-rate bill passed the House almost unanimously and now sits in the Senate, where the Post-Intelligencer warns that any man who stands between the people and the railroads will be crushed — and notes the governor can call an extra session if the legislature balks.
- Railroad Expansion at Priest Rapids
A look back at 1908 reveals a surge of land speculation and railroad grading near the Columbia River, casting doubt on whether the work was truly meant to connect the valley or merely to obstruct.
- Railroad Land Grab Defeated
A Supreme Court ruling halts the Northern Pacific Railroad's attempt to claim homesteaded lands in King and Yakima counties.
- The Great Railway Land Grab: Seattle's 1886 Battle Over Public Domain
A federal report exposes how the Northern Pacific Railroad claimed millions of acres in Washington Territory without legal authority, triggering a massive reclamation effort.
- The Political Price of Railroad Favors
A Washington Territory legislator faces backlash for allegedly prioritizing railroad monopolies over public interests.
- The Town That Relocated for the Rails
After three years of bitter infighting, the White Bluffs Post Office finally shifts to the railroad depot, signaling the death of the old townsite.
- Railroads vs. The Ranchers
An editorial warning that railroad companies are risking their own future by cutting off travel perks for livestock shippers.
- Railroad Giant Blocks Local Irrigation Taxes
The Northern Pacific Railroad has filed suit to dodge taxes meant to fund vital irrigation canals for Yakima valley farmers.
- The Deserted Settlers of Yakima
How a powerful railroad corporation abandoned the communities it promised to serve.
- Railroad Claims Exclusive Rights to Seattle Tide Lands
The Columbia and Puget Sound Railroad declares its ownership of the waterfront near King Street, barring public access.
Also about this, in other words
- Surveying the Wilderness for Iron Rails
As the Northern Pacific Railroad push reached deep into the Montana and Washington territories, engineers braved brutal winter storms and rugged mountain passes to chart the future of the Northwest.
- The River vs. The Rails: Walla Walla’s Plea for a Seattle Link
In 1877, Eastern Washington leaders warned that relying on the Columbia River was a fatal mistake, urging the federal government to subsidize a railroad connecting their region directly to Seattle.
- The Railroad Reach: Seattle Pushes Its Trestle and Track Toward the Coal Mines
Crews close the last gap in the Seattle & Walla Walla trestle, let another three-quarters of a mile to Yesler, and wait for rails to lay two more miles of track.
- A Railroad Plots Its Path Across the Yakima Reservation
Engineers for the Vancouver, Portland & Northern have staked a route straight through tribal land — and will soon sit down with the Yakima to ask for a right-of-way.
- The Railway War for Puget Sound
As transcontinental railroad giants maneuver for control of Seattle’s shipping, a fierce corporate battle promises to reshape the city’s economic future.
- The Railway to Nowhere
Citizens of Seattle fronted $150,000 for a coal railroad, but with the tracks stalled and workers laid off, the project has become a dead-end.
- Building a Railroad from Shipwreck Scraps
When a derelict ship wrecked off the coast, its cargo of steel rails became a tax-delinquent treasure for Aberdeen’s civic boosters.
- The Tyranny of the Rails
For years, Seattle merchants have endured the 'thralldom' of the Northern Pacific Railroad; now, local business leaders are looking to the Canadian Pacific to break the monopoly.