Research the archive

• “record” ×

1. The Delegate Who Sold Seattle’s Future for Five Thousand Dollars

   A scathing editorial in the Puget Sound Dispatch accuses Territorial Delegate George Freeman Willard of betraying Seattle’s interests—specifically the mud flats of Duwamish Bay—to secure his own political and financial gain, while simultaneously accepting bribes from rival railroad companies.

   Oct 31, 1872Puget Sound DispatchDuwamish Bay, Seattle, King CountyFollow the Money

2. The Court-Martial That Laughed Up Its Sleeve

   In closed sessions at Olympia, Col. J. C. Haines faces charges of foul and abusive language—but his supporters say the fix is already in.

   Nov 6, 1891The Olympia TribuneOlympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · Scandal

3. One Day Late: The Veto That May Hang a Man

   A clerk's date stamp, a messenger who cannot recall which day he ran an errand, and a condemned Italian at Tacoma whose last chance at a new appeal may have expired in the paperwork.

   Mar 3, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWashington State Capitol, Olympia, Thurston CountyCity Hall · True Crime

4. Guilty in Two Minutes: The Bunko Man With a Revolver in His Past

   Knowlton, alias 'Robert George,' was convicted of swindling an Aberdeen banker with two copper bars sold as gold—then prosecutors unpacked a record that included a murdered minister and a courtroom shooting.

   Sep 14, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyTrue Crime

5. The Prosecutor's Record: 'Arrest on Suspicion, Investigate Afterwards'

   A Stevens County election fight turns on the county's criminal docket — who jailed innocent men, and who got his convictions.

   Oct 22, 1908The Newport Miner (Newport, WA) 1899-CurrentColville, Stevens CountyCity Hall

6. The Sound's Long Memory for Rain

   While storms rattle the nerves of new arrivals, an old-timer’s meticulous forty-year record shows the 1894 weather is nothing compared to the '63 deluge.

   Jun 5, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyStrange But True

7. An Unheard-of Compliment for Port Records

   State auditors break from tradition to praise the Kennewick Port District's record-keeping, noting the commissioners serve without pay.

   Feb 1, 1917The Kennewick Courier-ReporterKennewick, Benton CountyCity Hall

8. The $37,500 Handshake: How Benton County's Tax Crusaders Blessed a Courthouse Deal

   Prosser's anti-tax league swore it would guard the public purse to the last janitor's salary. Then its own man changed his mind on Monday, and the Kennewick editor noticed where the $37,500 went.

   Dec 7, 1916The Kennewick Courier-ReporterBenton County Courthouse, ProsserFollow the Money · City Hall

9. The Smuggler's Shield: How a Seattle Customs Chief Defended Himself in Tacoma

   In the height of the 1888 opium smuggling scandal, Chief Inspector Gardner takes the stand in Tacoma, claiming he was set up by political rivals to cover his own failures.

   Jul 1, 1888The Seattle Post-IntelligencerTacoma, Pierce CountyCity Hall · True Crime

10. The Gambler’s Shield: How Seattle Saloon Keepers Dodged Mayor Moras’ Purge

    When Chief Justice Burke urged the city to revoke liquor licenses from gambling dens, the Common Council refused—citing legal technicalities and protecting the very establishments the mayor wanted shut down.

    Mar 16, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall · Nightlife

11. Seattle’s Burglary Panic Didn’t Survive the Record Book

    Police Chief Rogers pushed back on calls to expand the force, producing department figures that showed theft reports down by half—and blamed the rest on sneak thieves rather than professionals.

    Mar 7, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

12. The Tide Land Freeze: Ballard’s Waterfront Plats Go to Court

    A judge restrains appraisers from filing supplemental tide-land plats as landowners, the state land commission and the county auditor fight over who controls the shore.

    May 2, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money · City Hall

13. The Paperwork Revolution

    Whitman County updates its land records to end a legacy of confusion and 'egregious errors' in tax assessment.

    Jan 26, 1900The Colfax GazetteColfax, Whitman CountyFollow the Money

14. The County's Ledger: A Glimpse into Snohomish Life in 1877

    Minutes from the Snohomish County Commissioners reveal a town in transition: new justices, bridge bids, and the quiet bureaucracy of building a community on the edge of the frontier.

    Feb 17, 1877The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish CountyCity Hall

15. The Tiny Post Office Outperforming Cities

    While the nation mobilizes for the Great War, the remote community of Paterson sets a local sales record for War Savings stamps that eclipses larger towns.

    Jan 10, 1918The Kennewick Courier-ReporterPaterson, Benton CountyStrange But True

16. The Knox Stallion at Hilton’s Snohomish Ranch

    A high-pedigree horse on the banks of the Snohomish River offered a glimpse into the thriving frontier economy of the 1880s.

    Sep 1, 1877The Northern StarSnohomish, Snohomish County

17. The Great Seattle Land Office Fire

    A devastating blaze sweeps through downtown, destroying irreplaceable public records and a local church.

    Sep 13, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerMain Street, Seattle, King CountyDisasters

18. The Arsonist Who Burned the Books: A Tacoma Cover-Up?

    An attempt to torch the U.S. Custom House in Port Townsend raises eyebrows as officials fear a whistleblower’s evidence of corruption was destroyed.

    Mar 16, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerWater Street, Port Townsend, Jefferson CountyCity Hall · True Crime

19. The Town That Was Never Filed: A Buyer Sues Over Columbia's Missing Plat

    Robert Blackburn paid for a lot in a heavily promoted new Seattle townsite, then discovered that no plat of Columbia had ever been recorded with the county auditor.

    Feb 17, 1895The Seattle Post-IntelligencerColumbia City, Seattle, King CountyFollow the Money · Boom & Bust

20. The Diamond Palace Jeweler Who Vanished With the Stock

    Simon Rumpf’s 'Diamond Palace' is placed in receivership after creditors allege he conspired to transfer his stock and then disappeared.

    Sep 1, 1894The Seattle Post-Intelligencer620 Second Avenue, SeattleFollow the Money · True Crime

21. The Barn That Was a Courthouse: King County’s Shameful Jail and Office Conditions

    An editorial exposé reveals that King County’s records are stored in a 'mere barn' and prisoners live in conditions 'a disgrace to a humane community,' urging the sale of bonds for new buildings.

    Feb 12, 1889The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

22. The predatory business of 'confidential' loans

    A Seattle reporter goes undercover to expose local money lenders charging exorbitant interest rates to the desperate.

    Mar 11, 1883Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyFollow the Money

23. Prison Population Explodes

    Walla Walla's state penitentiary faces record overcrowding as prisoner count surges to 673.

    Jun 29, 1903The Evening StatesmanWashington State Penitentiary, Walla Walla, Walla Walla CountyCity Hall

24. Seattle’s 1891 Election-Eve Alarm: ‘Watch Until the Vote Is Counted’

    On the eve of municipal elections, the Post-Intelligencer accuses the Democratic administration of protected gambling, a looted treasury and stacked election boards—and warns Republicans that the only danger left is the count.

    Mar 5, 1894The Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle, King CountyCity Hall

25. State Land Board Begins Overhaul of Public Records

    A newly formed commission finds local records missing and incomplete, setting the stage for a Supreme Court battle over tide land rights.

    Jul 2, 1893The Seattle Post-IntelligencerOlympia, Thurston CountyFollow the Money

Download all 1,117 as a spreadsheet (CSV)