Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 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 |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 5 |
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1885 | 4 |
| 1886 | 5 |
| 1887 | 4 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 7 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 11 |
| 1893 | 11 |
| 1894 | 10 |
| 1895 | 11 |
| 1898 | 4 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 6 |
| 1904 | 4 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1916 | 1 |
| 1917 | 2 |
116 stories matching sober
- The Judge Who Was Only 'Sober as a Judge'
A legendary anecdote from the Seattle police court where a witness’s inadvertent insult revealed the bench's own notorious reputation for intoxication.
- The Tide Flat Mystery: A Carpenter’s Body Found Beneath the Rails
Three weeks after bridge carpenter Abner Abbott vanished in Seattle, his bloated remains were pulled from the water under a railroad trestle. With $400 still on his person and bruises on his face, police and citizens alike debated whether it was a tragic accident or a cold-blooded murder.
- The Absinthe Defense: How a 'Swissess' and a Headache Saved a Murderer's Life
In the high-profile Spencer trial in Spokane, witnesses testified that Edward Spencer drank absinthe to sober up before killing Ella Mundt. The court heard he was 'jolly' until the end.
- Single Tax vs. the Saloon: A Seattle Debate on Land, Liquor, and Power
At Freed's Hall, Henry George's followers and Prohibitionists argued over whether taxing land or banning drink could break the grip of monopoly and the whisky trust.
- A Sobering Plunge from the Eleventh Street Bridge
After attempting to end his life in the harbor while intoxicated, a local laborer decides that everyday life is worth holding onto.
- A Fortune Arrives Too Late for Tunnel Foreman
N. Wickstrom, a careful and sober tunnel foreman, was crushed by falling rock at Blueslide — on the same day a letter told him a long-awaited court judgment had come through.
- The Blaine Fisherman Who Pulled Seven People Out of the Water and Never Told Anyone
Hans Nielson is 24 years old, slight of build, and has saved seven lives in ten years — two in Denmark, five around Blaine — and calls each rescue a thing 'only incidental to the life of a water toiler.'
- A Seattle Woman Defends the Italian Immigrant
Interviewed at the Rainier, a language teacher recently returned from Europe rejects the caricature of Italians as a degraded race and describes them as industrious, sober, and devoted to home and family.
- The Disappearance of Harry Lombard
A sober and industrious logger vanishes into the dense woods near Enumclaw with a fortune in his pocket, sparking a community-wide hunt for a murderer.
- The Skating Rink Panic of 1892
When a local major tried to shut down a Tacoma skating rink after a scandal involving his stepson, the local press defended the rink as a space for social independence rather than a den of iniquity.
- A Tragic End on the Prairie
The lonely death of a local farmer reveals the harrowing struggle against the ravages of alcoholism.
- The Siege of Seattle: When Martial Law Came to the Waterfront
As anti-Chinese riots gripped Seattle in February 1886, Governor Watson Squire declared martial law, bringing in federal troops to suppress the violence and restore order at the docks.
- The Perpetual Motion Inventor's Wild Night
Dr. Hannibal Mills, a local crank obsessed with his 'perpetual motion' machine, shoots a saloon keeper after a drunken argument.
- The Effigy in the Pine Tree
Charles Gloystein crossed Spokane County's Populists and woke to find himself hanged in straw. Then he vanished.
- The Accused Killer Who Wrote to Seattle Police
Oluf Ellingson was found on the Lake Washington shore with his throat cut and a razor in his hand. Four years later, suspect Tony Miller’s letter still insisted he was coming back to clear his name.
- Armed Guards, a Locked Forecastle, and One Sailor Who Swam for It
Seattle's Sailors' Union accused a British ship of shanghaiing five men at Port Blakely; one escaped by jumping overboard, while the Shipowners' Association called the charges 'all bosh.'
- The Day Washington Was Born: A City Holds Its Breath
As the nation celebrates statehood, Seattle gathers in a packed hall to hear speeches on liberty, land fraud, and the future of the 'Queen City.'
- The Newcastle Riot: When Labor Turned on Labor
A preliminary examination reveals the chaotic morning of the Newcastle strike, where a mob of Knights of Labor marched to stop non-union miners from working—and ended up shooting at them.
- The Brutal Reality of the Seattle Sailor Market
A waterfront insider describes the predatory schemes used to trap unsuspecting men into dangerous lives at sea.
- Puyallup Leader Peter Stanup Reported Missing in Tacoma
The Puyallup leader vanished after a night of drinking and tension over reservation land, leaving his community in mourning and suspicion.
- Four Shots at a Seattle Policeman—and a Potato in the Revolver
Harry C. Good, a popular young salesman, is held on $10,000 bail after wounding Officer J. W. Glasscock at Third and Marion, while old friends recall the time they replaced his pistol cylinder with a potato.
- A Settler's Bullet at Ozette: A Killing Over Four Sealskins
A German homesteader shoots a Makah man near Neah Bay, and the tribes of the Olympic Peninsula begin to talk about taking revenge.
- The Moses of Tacoma
A Tacoma minister initiates an ambitious, secret plan to assist Black families fleeing the Jim Crow South for the Pacific Northwest.
- The Last Chapter at 1344 C Street
After her abusive husband hanged himself in the Tacoma city jail, a Swedish-born woman shot herself—and the policeman who had tried to save her stayed at her bedside until the end.
- The Mysterious Death of a Traveling Book Agent
After M.T. Connellan, a well-dressed encyclopedia salesman, was found dead on a hotel floor, the man who brought him there was arrested, leaving Seattle to wonder about a life of secrets.
Also about this, in other words
- The Doctor Who Walked Among Us: A Case of Acute Alcoholism
In a rare moment of public health transparency, the Snohomish Star details the physiological dangers of heavy drinking, warning that moderate consumption can turn a man into a 'walking dynamite' ready to explode at the sight of a candle.
- The Price of Protection
A local businessman pleads guilty to habitual drunkenness to trigger a legal guardianship, hoping to shield his assets from local gamblers.
- The Wealthy Landowner and the Guardianship Fight
A judge rules that being a 'habitual drunkard' is not sufficient legal grounds to seize control of a man's assets, thwarting his children's attempt to secure their inheritance.
- The Fight for a 'Sober' Waterfront
Seattle City Council members battle over whether to permit saloons near city parks, clashing over the character of public space.
- The Phantom Friends of Spokane: A Temperance Warning
An editorial in The Spokane Press warns that friendships forged over liquor are hollow illusions, citing William Makepeace Thackeray to argue that alcohol destroys genuine human connection.
- The Jailhouse Remedy for a Bad Case of Whiskey
A desperate man suffering from the effects of alcohol voluntarily surrendered himself to the Seattle sheriff, asking to be locked away until he could regain his senses.
- The Kentucky Saloon's Bitter Lesson
A local saloon keeper faces legal consequences after a 12-year-old boy is found in a state of delirium from consuming whiskey and beer.
- A Judge’s Weary View on the Divorce Boom
Tacoma’s divorce courts see a steady stream of domestic disputes, leading one judge to question the rising frequency of these legal filings.