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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 7 |
| 1876 | 15 |
| 1877 | 8 |
| 1878 | 3 |
| 1880 | 4 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 9 |
| 1884 | 9 |
| 1885 | 33 |
| 1886 | 22 |
| 1887 | 6 |
| 1888 | 10 |
| 1889 | 22 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 12 |
| 1892 | 46 |
| 1893 | 49 |
| 1894 | 66 |
| 1895 | 68 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 14 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1909 | 5 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1915 | 1 |
| 1924 | 2 |
424 stories matching request
- City Hall Showdown: Council and Reformers Clash Over Charter Revision
A heated joint meeting of the city council and civic organizations debates whether to call a special election for a new city charter, with accusations of bullying and claims of wasted taxpayer money.
- The Judge Who Gambled Away His Office: Soderberg’s Dramatic Resignation
After the grand jury returned five indictments for extortion and malfeasance in office, District Attorney Joseph Soderberg walked into court, tendered his resignation, and declared he would repay every illegal fee to the county treasury.
- The First Teachers’ Institute: A Battle for Seattle’s Soul
In September 1872, the Territory’s top educators gathered in Seattle to debate everything from corporal punishment to the role of women in teaching, laying the groundwork for public education in Washington.
- The Terminal Standoff: How Seattle’s Business Elite Forced a Railroad Compromise
In January 1899, the city’s Board of Trade and leading merchants intervened in a bitter dispute between the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad and the Puget Sound Shore Railroad, demanding the construction of vital terminal warehouses to save freight from the elements.
- A Revolver at Her Ear: Mary Steel's Third Fight for a Divorce
Mary Steel's third divorce suit against David H. Steel laid bare a bitter fight over $49,000 in Seattle and Montana property—and allegations of violence, control and intimidation.
- The Doctors Declare War: Seattle's Health Board Orders the Schools Shut as Scarlet Fever Spreads
Backed by a city attorney's opinion, the board of health gives the school board an ultimatum — close the Rainier and South schools by nine o'clock Friday morning or the police will do it for them.
- Seattle’s Grand Welcome: The Battle for the First Washington Volunteers’ Homecoming
In May 1899, Seattle mobilized its entire civic infrastructure to welcome home the first regiment from the Spanish-American War. With Mayor Hume calling joint committees and the City Council lobbying the Navy for a battleship, the city prepared for a celebration that would define its post-war identity.
- The Last Request of a Forgotten Pioneer
An elderly immigrant who sought his fortune in the Fraser River gold rush spends his final days pleading for a dignified burial, forcing the city's power brokers to confront the reality of poverty in a booming frontier town.
- The Mayor’s War on the 'Ring': A Candidate’s Plea for Clean Government in 1879 Seattle
Bernard Cossen runs for mayor not for power, but to stop wealthy landowners from hoarding public funds and blocking civic progress.
- The Great Schism at Market Street Baptist
A congregation splits as 22 members depart in the wake of internal conflict, signaling the end of a long-standing church feud.
- The Brewer and the Widow
A Seattle brewing fortune hangs in the balance as a widow sues for breach of promise.
- 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 House Rules of the 'Magic' Boarding House
A cantankerous landlord lists a set of bizarre, strict, and contradictory regulations for his boarders, from 'pulling off their boots' to a mysterious policy on nightmares.
- The Missing Will That Would Have Given Seattle a Library
Henry Yesler's widow and two doctors are arrested, accused of burning a will that left the pioneer's fortune—and his mansion—to the city.
- Church Pastor Forced Out Amidst Financial Dispute
The pastor of the Jones Street A.M.E. Church has resigned following a public notice from the trustees declaring he was no longer authorized to collect funds.
- Three Thousand Pack the Armory to Cheer Debs and Denounce Pullman
Seattle workingmen and their allies fill Armory Hall to hear the strikers' side of the fight — a night of fiery speeches, white ribbons of peace, and one heckler hustled out the door.
- The School Board's Hidden Books
A citizen's attempt to audit the Seattle Board of Education sparks a tense confrontation over transparency and the fear of a local 'poorhouse scandal.'
- St. Louis Money Was Ready—If Seattle Guaranteed the Canal
In 1895, a citizens' committee moved to raise a public subsidy for locks, bridges and right-of-way so a $7 million tide-flat and canal scheme could begin.
- The Pastor, the Pawnshop, and the Forged Minutes
Seattle's Jones Street A.M.E. church removed Rev. Allen Whaley after trustees found missing collection money, a suspicious bank receipt, and minutes he wrote himself.
- The Kidnapping of the Kerr Children: A Seattle Scandal of Custody and Class
In July 1888, Chief Justice Jones presided over a dramatic habeas corpus hearing regarding two young girls seized from an orphanage by their father and his new lover, sparking a public debate over morality, custody rights, and the fate of vulnerable children.
- Seattle Wined and Dined the Legislature to Sell the Ship Canal
In February 1893, city leaders invited every state lawmaker to Seattle at city expense—then walked them to the Lake Washington portage to argue for county bonds and a canal.
- The Broken Promise of the Cedar River Extension
Seattle businessmen struggle with Henry Villard over delayed rail construction and the demand for early subsidy payments.
- A Streetcar Magnate Denies Bribery and Blames an Alderman's Grudge
Writing from St. Louis, Union Trunk Line president E. F. Wittler flatly denies offering Alderman J. Eugene Jordan $100 and a lifetime pass to stop fighting the line's Rainier Heights branch — and says Jordan told him he was only trying to 'get even with Lowman.'
- A Legislative Committee Finds the University of Washington Packed, Broke, and Worth Building
After touring the cramped old campus and the rising new grounds between Lake Union and Lake Washington, a joint legislative committee urges bonds, more books, a smaller board of regents, and a dry zone around the university.
- The Political Price of Honest Dealing
A local land officer loses his position for resisting the 'land-grabbing' Northern Pacific Railroad, triggering a public petition to demand his reinstatement.
Also about this, in other words
- A Desperate Plea for Mercy in a Madison Street Assault
Despite the emotional pleas of a wife attempting to protect her husband, the victim of a brutal assault refuses to drop charges.
- A Child's Plea for Help
A three-year-old girl leads an officer to a locked room to rescue her mother from an abusive husband.
- A Precarious Request for Legal Safety
Unable to file for divorce due to residency requirements, a mother seeks a court injunction to protect herself and her children from her husband's alleged abuse.
- The Lonely Plea of Miss Martha Bronson
An Eastern woman takes out a newspaper advertisement to find a husband in Washington Territory, declaring she is 'already grown up' and looking to build a life in the West.
- The Doctor Who Wanted Everything
A Prince Edward Island physician wrote to a Seattle paper requesting a mountain of free market research, leading the editors to publicly shame him for his stinginess.