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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 4 |
| 1859 | 4 |
| 1860 | 3 |
| 1861 | 5 |
| 1862 | 7 |
| 1863 | 1 |
| 1872 | 5 |
| 1876 | 20 |
| 1877 | 27 |
| 1878 | 6 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1880 | 9 |
| 1882 | 5 |
| 1883 | 24 |
| 1884 | 11 |
| 1885 | 20 |
| 1886 | 14 |
| 1887 | 9 |
| 1888 | 19 |
| 1889 | 44 |
| 1891 | 40 |
| 1892 | 66 |
| 1893 | 62 |
| 1894 | 86 |
| 1895 | 152 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1898 | 8 |
| 1899 | 20 |
| 1902 | 2 |
| 1903 | 28 |
| 1904 | 20 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1908 | 9 |
| 1909 | 20 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1911 | 4 |
| 1914 | 1 |
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| 1916 | 5 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1918 | 2 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 1 |
773 stories matching refer
- The Great Front Street Fraud: City Council Exposes Fake Petition for Cable Car
In a stunning display of civic integrity, Seattle’s Common Council unmasks a fraudulent petition designed to grant a monopoly cable car franchise, revealing that applicants forged signatures and misrepresented property frontage.
- The Divorce Dozen: Olympia’s Council Clears a Path for Broken Marriages
In December 1860, the Washington Territory Council processed a flurry of divorce petitions, including one from prominent local figure Carson D. Boren, revealing the fragile nature of domestic life in the frontier.
- The Art of the Political Stall
A look back at the legislative gridlock, railroad lobbying, and fierce parliamentary maneuvering in the Seattle council of 1887.
- The Mugwump’s Ledger: How Seattle’s Territorial Secretary Gamed the Law Printing Contract
A fierce editorial exposes Secretary Owings for delaying the publication of territorial laws to favor a cronies’ printing bid, while padding the bill with 40 pages of his own party platform.
- The Streetcar Men Asked Seattle to Set Their Wages. The City's Lawyer Said No.
A union petition to write conductor and motorman pay into the street railway franchise ran into the corporation counsel's constitutional wall — so the council sent it back to committee to try again as an ordinance.
- The Saloon Ordinance and the 'Back Door' Scandal
Seattle City Council members clash over zoning laws for liquor licenses, with accusations of bribery and political maneuvering threatening to shut down saloons in key districts.
- The School Law That Existed Only in the Enrolled Bill
A $3,700 school-fund dispute in Spokane exposed a legislative clerk's error—and left Washington's superintendent asking whether the enrolled bill or the journals were law.
- A Packed Council Chamber, a Railroad Franchise, and a Fight Over Public Streets
Newport's city council meeting drew a standing-room crowd as aldermen tangled over an Idaho Washington Northern street-vacation request, a conflict-of-interest accusation, saloon licenses, and an electric-light contract.
- Queen Anne parents ask where the $25,000 school levy went
A delegation from the Queen Anne district told the school board it had both the money and the legal duty to build a schoolhouse on the hill. The board conceded the need, blamed the county treasurer's books, and referred the whole thing to committee.
- Seattle's Fire Chief Accused as the Council Wrestles a Telephone Franchise and a Paving Bill
Both houses of the city council meet late into the night: charges that Chief Hunt holds office under false pretenses, a twenty-five-year franchise for the Seattle Home Telephone Company, and a fight over who pays for the sick and injured.
- The Land Grab That Built Tacoma: How the Northern Pacific Railroad Stole Millions of Acres
A furious editorial in the Seattle Star exposes the Northern Pacific Railroad’s scheme to misappropriate public lands for a private coal line, arguing that the company is using legal loopholes to steal from settlers in King and Snohomish counties.
- A City on the Brink: Olympia’s 1891 Debt Crisis and the Fight Over Jobs
Facing a constitutional debt limit, Olympia’s city council considers firing the deputy clerk, assistant city attorney, and city engineer—while a motion to revoke the street railway franchise fails by a tie.
- ‘Rule or Ruin’: A Territorial Lawmaker Turns on Governor Stevens
Confined to his room with a cold, a member of the Washington Territorial Legislature answers his critics — defending his right to name the governor's unpopular appointees and accusing a ruling clique of trying to shut the rest of the territory up.
- The Engineer Who Tamed the Tides: Col. Wilson’s Blueprint for Snohomish’s Future
A master engineer presents a radical plan to dredge the Columbia and Willamette rivers, promising to unlock Seattle's potential by reshaping the very geography of the Pacific Northwest.
- The Chinese Alms Association Defends Its Mission
Facing accusations of operating a 'Highbinder court,' members of Seattle's Chinese community wrote to the Post-Intelligencer to assert their role as an independent organization dedicated to arbitration and charity.
- The Mayor's Chair Is No Bed of Roses
Olympia's old city officers resign to clear a ballot-printing challenge, the new mayor takes the oath—and both incoming and outgoing officials warn that public service brings more abuse than thanks.
- The Struggle for a Sidewalk
Citizens and the City Council wrangle over basic infrastructure as Seattle grapples with rapid growth and urban order.
- Seattle’s School Board Said No to $153
Contractors crowded the board meeting, but a fight over $4,000 versus $4,153 left a school addition unbuilt—and a Lake Union petition for 107 children pending.
- The Wig and the Wire: How a Tacoma Newspaper Owner Tried to Destroy a Judge
In the sensational Wickersham trial of 1889, prosecutor R.P. Radebaugh’s own past and his alleged conspiracy to frame Judge Wickersham for 'immorality' were laid bare in court.
- The Judge Who Warned Seattle Not to Sell Its Waterfront to a Canal Company
In 1894, Judge John J. McGilvra urged Congress to build the Lake Washington Ship Canal and warned that a private company's tideflat scheme would put tolls on the water and enrich speculators at public expense.
- Washington's House Votes to Ban Cigarettes — and the Tobacco Trust Moves In
In 1893 the state House passed a prohibition on cigarette sales after a debate that mixed moral reform, monopoly fears and anti-Chinese prejudice. Lobbyists were already working the Senate.
- The Judge, the Revolver, and the Impeachment Petition
A former judge tells Olympia that Judge W. W. Langhorne drinks on the bench, bullies lawyers, and has threatened to shoot him — and asks the House to remove him.
- The Mayor Moves to Shut the Dives and Gambling Rooms
A sweeping message from the mayor demands that the council revoke the licenses of saloons and music halls where girls sell liquor and gamblers run their games—passed in full by the aldermen even as auditors report a $27,000 hole in the street-improvement funds.
- The Governor, the Corporations, and the Session He Wouldn't Call
A leaked cabinet meeting shows Governor Ferry weighing an extra legislative session against the wrath of corporations—and his own officials split over whether the state can wait.
- The Strange Disappearance of Ollie Young’s Reputation
A man from the Puyallup Valley confronts the Chief of Police to clear a young woman's name after scandal-filled letters appear in a Tacoma newspaper.
Also about this, in other words
- An Invitation to a Celestial Feast
An 1877 dispatch offers a rare, albeit patronizing, glimpse into the intricate social etiquette and lavish dining culture of Seattle’s Chinese mercantile class.
- A Close Call on River Road
A local child suffers a serious eye injury during a frantic day on the farm.
- Seattle's First Great Milestone
The University of Washington is dedicated, marking a pivotal moment in the territory's intellectual development.
- A Life-Changing Fall on Second and Yesler
A hotel worker narrowly survives a twenty-foot plunge after a window sash collapses, highlighting the precarious reality of daily labor in 1889 Seattle.
- The Bureau of Associated Charities Launches Friendly Visitors Program
Eighty local women take up the task of 'personal charity,' aiming to uplift the poor through mentorship rather than simple handouts.
- A Saw Blade, a Slipped Foot, and a Surgeon's Race to Save a Worker's Arm
A worker's foot slipped against a circular saw, severing the artery and nerve in his right arm; doctors ligated the artery and stitched the nerve.
- The Lawyer, the Boy, and the Five-Cent Lesson
A shrewd Seattle attorney tests a boy’s integrity with a lesson in promissory notes and the value of a promise.
- The New Kindergarten System Arrives in Yakima
Two educators arrive from San Francisco to establish a 'play-based' school, promising a radical shift away from rote memorization.