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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1858 | 2 |
| 1864 | 1 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 20 |
| 1877 | 10 |
| 1878 | 8 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 2 |
| 1882 | 3 |
| 1883 | 15 |
| 1884 | 4 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 5 |
| 1887 | 6 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 30 |
| 1890 | 4 |
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 46 |
| 1893 | 42 |
| 1894 | 32 |
| 1895 | 31 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 9 |
| 1900 | 3 |
| 1903 | 17 |
| 1904 | 14 |
| 1905 | 3 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 2 |
| 1909 | 24 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 11 |
| 1917 | 3 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 1 |
384 stories matching rear
- The Night a Gilded Age Mansion Lit the Road to Its Own Party
In 1894, Horace and Susan Henry welcomed nearly 200 guests to their new showpiece house above Lake Union—then sent them home by special streetcar under a private line of electric lights.
- The Great Dayton Fire: A Block of Ashes and a City’s Near Miss
On the night of April 2, 1882, flames consumed three blocks in downtown Dayton, Washington. While the town paid with its buildings, Seattle’s own fire department narrowly escaped disaster thanks to a single force pump.
- The Narrow Escape of Aberdeen
A pre-dawn fire in a downtown barber shop threatened to raze the young city, but a swift response from the local hose company stopped the flames before they reached the business district.
- The Midnight Hold-Up Near Hot Springs
A masked trio halts a Northern Pacific sleeper, terrifying passengers and making off with $1,200 in cash and gold.
- The Editor Who Stole the Public Warrants
The editor of Port Townsend's 'Morning Leader' was arrested for forging and cashing county warrants after a grand jury investigation.
- Death Reared Its Horrid Head: Steam Heater Explosion Kills Two Men in Downtown Seattle
A careless Japanese fireman left a boiler unattended at Second and Washington, causing a catastrophic explosion that killed one man instantly and mortally wounded another.
- A Miraculous Escape for Seattle
A waterfront fire threatens to consume the business district, but the volunteer fire department saves the day.
- The Runaway Cable Car of Madison Street
A silent, uncrewed cable car plunges down the steep grade toward Lake Washington, resulting in a fatal collision and a sobering coroner's inquest into transit safety.
- Work for a Meal: The Salvation Army’s ‘Elevator’ Opens in Seattle
The Salvation Army opened a combined shelter, soup kitchen and workshop near Third and South Second, offering hundreds of meals and 130 beds—provided able-bodied men earned their keep.
- Streetcar Smash-up on Madison and Third
A cable car and an electric car collide downtown, leaving passengers injured and raising questions about right-of-way.
- The Cable Car That Dodged a Runaway Electric—and the Lawsuit That Followed
A Madison Street cable car narrowly avoided a speeding Third Street electric car in 1893; passenger E. K. Marvin won $1,000 after a second trial over his sprained ankle.
- 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.
- Late Night Scare on Second Street
A fire behind a downtown Seattle mercantile building nearly threatened several city blocks before firefighters brought the flames under control.
- Telescoped at the Crossing: A Grant Street Horror
When a Northern Pacific freight train plowed into an electric streetcar on May 20, 1909, one man died and dozens were mangled in the icy water below. The crash exposed dangerous speeds and negligent watchmen at a city intersection that remains vital today.
- The Soldiers Who Refused to Ride With Scabs
During the Pullman strike, a Washington National Guard company mutinied rather than travel on a train crewed by non-union men—and the colonel who disarmed them said the whole unit should be disbanded.
- The Warden Fights Back: Prison Labor, Jute Sacks and a Seattle Newspaper Scandal
Accused of selling prison-made sacks to middlemen and brutalizing convicts, Walla Walla’s warden answers his critics with a detailed defense—and a challenge to inspect the prison.
- The Dungeon Behind the Standard Theater: Inside Seattle’s Terrifying Jail
A reporter’s inspection of Marshal Hamilton’s holding cells reveals prisoners sleeping on straw in a damp basement, fed by a restaurant manager who claims their diet is 'wholesome' and identical to his paying customers'.
- Gambler shot in Snohomish street row
A night patrolman fired on a man who attacked him with a rolling pin after a rowdy disturbance near the local saloon.
- Late-Night Burglary Ends in Foot Chase
A drug store break-in at Commercial Street leads to a wild foot pursuit across downtown alleys.
- A Cow on the Track, a Freight Train in the Air, and Two Dead Railroad Men
A wandering cow derailed a freight train near Latona in 1894, killing two railroad workers and scattering thirteen cars while crewmen ran ahead to flag the passenger trains.
- The Third Blaze in a Year: Littell & Smythe Factory Ruined
A sash and door mill between Pike and Pine Street is reduced to cinders, the third time the business has caught fire in a single year.
- Fatal Logging Railroad Accident at Kamilche
A young worker was killed when a logging train derailed at Simpson’s switch, marking the first fatal accident on local logging roads in a year.
- Midnight Fire at the Northern Hotel
A fire breaks out in the kitchen of the Northern Hotel, sending guests fleeing into the halls in their nightclothes.
- The Widow, the Pallbearer, and the Seduction Charge That Set Fourth Avenue Fighting
A middle-aged widow says her young neighbor promised marriage; his mother says otherwise. A Seattle justice court hears a scandal of grief, gossip and a hidden suitor behind a door.
- The Handmade Naphtha Car That Was Going to Revolutionize Olympia
At a stable on Puget and Third, George Marvin Savage's crew is building a one-off motor car—part streetcar, part joke—for Main Street.
Also about this, in other words
- The Bear That Bit Back: Deputy Collector’s Narrow Escape from Tax-Collecting Felines
In a bizarre twist of frontier justice in Toledo, Washington, two tame bears were unleashed on a deputy revenue collector after their Italian owner refused to pay taxes.
- The Art of the 'Back-Seat Sermon'
A Seattle preacher shares his cunning, slightly cynical strategy to force young couples in the back pews to stop courting and actually listen to the gospel.
- A Runaway Caboose in Nisqually Canyon
A train car breaks loose on the Tacoma Eastern line, turning into a runaway vehicle that ends in a wreck.
- The Mail Stage Goes Up in Smoke
A local mail carrier avoids disaster by saving the packages from his burning Reo sedan.
- Crushed Under a Falling Tier of Ties at the Newport Docks
A Northern Mercantile superintendent is pinned by heavy timbers while unloading a waterlogged barge, his back lacerated and left foot crushed.
- Joyride to South Tacoma Ends in Empty Tank
A stolen North End automobile was found abandoned in South Tacoma after the joyriders ran out of gas.
- Rural Mail Carrier Trampled in Brutal Runaway
A mail carrier was sent to the street after a bottling company's team smashed into his cart in a busy Walla Walla thoroughfare.
- A Runaway Buggy and a Near-Fatal Kick
Deputy Sheriff Dan Simmons faces a brush with death while assisting a stranded woman in the sagebrush near Old Town.