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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 5 |
| 1860 | 2 |
| 1861 | 4 |
| 1862 | 6 |
| 1863 | 2 |
| 1864 | 3 |
| 1865 | 1 |
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1872 | 14 |
| 1876 | 57 |
| 1877 | 68 |
| 1878 | 69 |
| 1879 | 3 |
| 1880 | 20 |
| 1882 | 6 |
| 1883 | 18 |
| 1884 | 22 |
| 1885 | 32 |
| 1886 | 17 |
| 1887 | 22 |
| 1888 | 37 |
| 1889 | 85 |
| 1890 | 6 |
| 1891 | 67 |
| 1892 | 77 |
| 1893 | 70 |
| 1894 | 95 |
| 1895 | 156 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 6 |
| 1899 | 23 |
| 1900 | 5 |
| 1902 | 4 |
| 1903 | 62 |
| 1904 | 29 |
| 1905 | 3 |
| 1907 | 3 |
| 1908 | 19 |
| 1909 | 46 |
| 1910 | 13 |
| 1911 | 3 |
| 1912 | 2 |
| 1914 | 13 |
| 1915 | 6 |
| 1916 | 12 |
| 1917 | 10 |
| 1918 | 1 |
| 1922 | 1 |
| 1923 | 1 |
| 1924 | 2 |
| 1925 | 1 |
| 1928 | 2 |
| 1929 | 1 |
1,234 stories matching term
- The City That Forgot How to Ride: Seattle’s Battle for Short-Term Streetcar Franchises
In May 1899, the Seattle Star warned that granting long-term monopolies to street railway companies would leave the city trapped with obsolete technology and inflated prices. The paper argued fiercely for short-term grants to keep corporations accountable—a debate that echoes in today’s transit infrastructure battles.
- The Forty-Year Stranglehold: Seattle’s Streetcar Franchise Fight
As promoters push for a massive consolidation of the city's transit lines under a 40-year franchise, local editors warn that handing over public infrastructure to private syndicates is a dangerous gamble for a rapidly growing metropolis.
- The Governor's 1895 Warning: Washington Is Spending Itself Into Debt
A message to the legislature tallies a looming deficit, runaway appropriations and a public-land system under pressure — while urging lawmakers to lease harbor areas cheaply and defend taxpayers.
- The Treasurer-Elect Can't Find Bondsmen for a $400,000 Bond
J. W. Maple's search for sureties exposes a quiet fight over King County's swelling public funds—and the commissioners say they actually let him off easy.
- The University’s Spring Awakening: A New Era of Funding and Debate
As the spring term opens at the University of Washington, students celebrate record appropriations for new departments while engaging in high-stakes political debates and athletic rivalries.
- 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 Great Hose Heist: How a Seattle Fire Department Was Almost Scammed by a New York Manufacturer
A peculiar dispute over fire equipment reveals the cutthroat world of late-19th-century municipal procurement, where agents played cities against manufacturers and warrants were used as currency.
- The Election of 1885: A Glimpse into Seattle's Growing Pains
As Seattle prepared for a municipal election in the summer of 1885, city officials published formal notices for a contest to fill leadership roles, highlighting a city governed by ward-based representation during a pivotal era of expansion.
- The Star System: How Actors Made Millions (and Squandered Them)
A detailed breakdown of theatrical salaries reveals that while some stars like John E. Owens amassed fortunes through prudence, others like Edwin Booth lived on the edge of bankruptcy despite earning thousands a week.
- The Supreme Court Rules on Local Terms
A legal dispute over when county officers begin their terms reaches a final decision in Olympia.
- 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.
- 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.
- Seattle's $100,000 Night: The Armory Meeting That Sold the Ship Canal
Boosters packed the Armory in 1895 and pledged a fortune for locks and bridges on a Lake Washington canal—payable only after a ship made the passage from Elliott Bay.
- A Mayor, a Rigged Lottery, and the Fight for Olympia's City Hall
A month out from the municipal election, the Tribune accuses Mayor J. C. Horr of quietly fixing his fences for a second term — and the drawing of lots that handed one councilman a longer seat looks to a good many people like a put-up job.
- A Constitutional Deadlock in Benton County
A dispute over an appointed county commissioner’s term creates a legal stalemate between state law and the constitution.
- The Great Statehood Gamble: How Washington Territory Bet Its Future on a Coin Flip
In February 1889, Congress passed the 'Omnibus Bill' granting statehood to four territories simultaneously. For Seattle and Tacoma, this wasn't just political news—it was a high-stakes gamble that would determine their city limits, tax structures, and place in history.
- The Centennial Call: Snohomish Citizens Urged to Claim Their History
As the nation prepares for the 1876 Independence Day celebration, local leaders in Snohomish argue that the county must stop waiting for Seattle or other larger towns to represent them. Instead, they propose a unified county-wide gathering to preserve the region's unique settlement history.
- The Vicious Old Man of the Jail
After a history of petty crime and violence, a troubled elderly man is committed to the state asylum due to worsening mental illness caused by years of dissipation.
- The Streetcar Stranglehold: Eastern Capitalists vs. Seattle’s Future
As a coalition of wealthy investors from the East seeks to monopolize Seattle’s street railway system with a 18-year franchise, local legal advisors warn that without it, the deal collapses—igniting a fierce debate over municipal ownership and corporate power.
- The Franchise Fight: Seattle’s Battle for Control of the Streets
As the Corporation Committee prepares to report on the street railway franchise, a fierce debate erupts over whether the city should sell its public assets to private developers for 40 years or keep them in public hands.
- The Ax in the Brick Yard
A convict who had waited years for the man who testified against him finally gets his chance at Walla Walla — and takes it with an ax.
- The First Victim of the Habitual Criminal Act
A repeat offender from Seattle faces a potential 28-year sentence under Washington’s new 'habitual criminal' law.
- Carnegie Offers Walla Walla $25,000 — If the City Will Say Yes
A Thanksgiving-week letter from Andrew Carnegie promises a library building for the city, on the condition that Walla Walla furnish a site and $2,500 a year. The council has not yet voted, and the Statesman is impatient.
- The Funeral Pyre of Justice: Seattle Burns Its Gambling Den
As the Territorial Grand Jury demands a sewer system and a new jail, Sheriff Cochrane immolates tons of gambling paraphernalia on a public bonfire, while Judge Burke condemns saloon keepers to revoke their licenses.
- The Union Veteran Who Sued the Railroad for a Million-Dollar Tacoma
Anthony P. Carr says Northern Pacific agents helped a claim-jumper steal his homestead. More than a thousand Tacoma lots—and the people living on them—depend on what the Supreme Court decides.
Also about this, in other words
- The Goddess of Slang: A Poetic Flirtation in the Territory
A whimsical verse from the late 19th century captures the playful, rhyming courtship rituals of Snohomish Territory, offering a glimpse into the lighthearted side of pioneer life.
- The Legal Definition of Animal Abuse
A jury acquits a man who killed a 'balky' horse, raising questions about the threshold for animal cruelty in the 1890s.
- The Invisible Army Under the Microscope
A scientific lecture delivered in Snohomish contemplates the origins of life, the invisible world of bacteria, and the processes of decay.
- The Tragedy of the Pigeon-Toed Dude
A brief, biting observation from the Seattle Press on the shifting aesthetics of late 19th-century masculinity and fashion.
- The False Doctrine of 'Supply and Demand'
A labor manifesto argues that using the 'cheapest man' to set wage standards is a race to the bottom that threatens the integrity of community and family life.
- The Martyrdom of the Needle
A fiery plea from the pulpit for women's right to work and fair wages.
- The Unreasonable Burden of Moral Regeneration
A bold editorial argument for women's suffrage, dismissing the 'degradation' objection and the notion that men need women to save them from their own vices.
- The Anatomy of a Political Glutton
A satirical 1885 editorial dissecting the sudden, transformation of humble private citizens into greedy 'Ins' once they secure public office in Washington territory.