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 | 3 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 4 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 7 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 3 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 15 |
| 1891 | 24 |
| 1892 | 67 |
| 1893 | 52 |
| 1894 | 51 |
| 1895 | 63 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1899 | 15 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 10 |
| 1904 | 12 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 23 |
| 1916 | 2 |
363 stories matching tonight
- The Powerhouse Killing in Hamilton
A quarrel over steam, firewood and a dollar a day left an electric-light manager dead, a young night watchman charged with murder, and a town talking of lynching.
- A Senator Breaks Ranks, and Seattle Howls
Senator Rutter abandons John B. Allen for George Turner, turning the 1893 U.S. Senate deadlock into a test of party loyalty and constituent fury.
- The People’s Franchise: Seattle Rises Against the Streetcar Monopoly
In June 1899, hundreds of citizens packed Armory Hall to declare 'No More Franchises,' demanding that the city council stop selling off public rights-of-way to private railway companies without voter approval.
- The Sound Goes Silent: Steamboat Crews Strike Over Wage Cuts
A coordinated walkout by skilled engineers and captains across Puget Sound brings mail service to a halt as operators face the reality of losing their irreplaceable workforce.
- A Squall Off Chuckanut: The Mail Steamer Buckeye Goes Down
The steamer Buckeye capsized in Bellingham Bay in 1893, leaving passengers and crew clinging to a lifeboat and raft. All but one survived.
- The Tacoma Strike, Undone and Redone in a Single Day
Northern Pacific tries to declare victory, but firemen, switchmen and engineers vote to stay out—while Debs wires that the fight is still solid.
- The Railroad Land Agent Who Chose Death Over Ruin
Paul Schulze, the Northern Pacific’s former land agent and a promoter of Tacoma streetcars and Yakima irrigation, shot himself as receivers took over his enterprises.
- Tacoma Councilmen Move to Kill Civil Service — and Give Themselves Raises
A charter-revision package would scrap civil service, shrink the council to nine and boost pay from $300 to $1,200, prompting a public showdown at tonight's special meeting.
- The 83-Ballot Deadlock: 'Either Allen or No One'
In Olympia, John B. Allen’s Republican caucus held the line while Judge Humes and Levi Ankeny saw their candidacies frostbitten—and the ballots kept piling up.
- Olympia's Backroom Bargain Over a Senate Seat
Lawmakers arrive in Olympia pledging to organize fast, but the fight over a U.S. Senate seat and the speakership is already reshaping the session.
- Twenty-Three Ballots, No Senator
Washington's legislature spends the day deadlocked between Levi Ankeny and John L. Wilson, while George Turner withdraws and a bogus Tacoma Ledger interview roils the contest.
- A Packed House Watches a Dying Cardinal Bring Down the Curse of Rome
Touring tragedian Keene fills the Olympia Theater with Bulwer's 'Richelieu' — and promises Shakespeare's Richard III for tonight, with 'but a few seats left.'
- The Night They Burned the Bridges: Sprague Makes Its Stand
A mob stones the returning militia, torch-wielding strikers destroy trestles on both sides of town, and a governor wires back orders to 'use all force at your command' to disperse the rioters.
- The Seattle Election Telegrams: When Political Operatives Ran the Show
Leaked ciphers from 1892 reveal a scheme where out-of-town 'detectives' and thugs were imported to manipulate local elections and manufacture scandals.
- Tacoma’s Chinese Merchant Question Turns to Threats of Violence
A visiting Chinese businessman tests whether Tacoma will admit Chinese merchants, while the Trades Council calls them “a pestilential social element” and a crowd waits at the depot.
- The Fatal Price of a Hidden Life
A Spokane man shoots his wife for running a lodging house, a tragic climax to their long-standing conflict over her livelihood.
- Republican Deadlock Finally Broken in Olympia
After intense lobbying and political maneuvering, John B. Allen secures the support needed to likely become the next U.S. Senator.
- A Wall of Smoke and Flame Across Puget Sound
Forest fires from Hood Canal to the Nooksack Valley left dozens of families homeless in 1894, while smoke turned steamboat travel blind and daily life in Seattle into a gray haze.
- A Cook's Desperate Pursuit—and a Wife Who Wanted Out
Louis Pesardi followed his estranged wife from Seattle to Port Townsend, then shot himself when she refused to return—a domestic tragedy reported as a love story.
- Tacoma's Labor Boycott: Business Men Forced to Meet in a Basement as Tensions Escalate
A planned meeting of business men to address the Trades Council's boycott of the Ledger newspaper is postponed after the Commercial Club refuses its rooms. Undeterred, a group meets in a basement, but the Trades Council dismisses it as meaningless. The city remains on edge as labor and business collide.
- The Great Northern Railway Arrives in Spokane
After years of construction, the final spike connects Spokane to the Great Northern line, linking the city to the East.
- Tacoma’s Floating Border: 142 Chinese Passengers Ordered Back Aboard the Mogul
A Northern Pacific steamer brought 242 Chinese travelers to Tacoma in 1893. Collector Wesson admitted 100, stretched a World’s Fair loophole for 32 actors, and ordered the rest deported—while smugglers counted the cost.
- The Silver Fight Waiting Inside Spokane’s Republican Convention
Nine Supreme Court hopefuls, three congressional candidates, and a free-silver bloc turn Washington’s 1894 state convention into a backroom brawl before it even opens.
- Washington's Fourth Legislature Adjourns After a Marathon Final Day
Lawmakers pass 53 bills, defeat a school-book trust, kill a Seattle-Tacoma bridewell, and bury woman suffrage for at least two years.
- Twenty-Three Dead, and a Jury Clears the Company
An inquest into the explosion that killed twenty-three miners at the Blue Canyon mine blames gas and dust — and flatly exonerates the company of any fault.
Also about this, in other words
- A Night of Whist and Crokignole in 1889 Seattle
A surprise party for Miss Fannie McKay at her family home on Fourth and Yesler offers a glimpse into the parlor social life of early Seattle.
- A Night Out on Front Street Ends in Glass
An intoxicated patron’s stumbling walk through downtown Seattle leads to a costly encounter with a store display window.
- A Night of Harassment on South Third and Main
A local man is arrested after accosting and physically assaulting women on their way home from a Salvation Army meeting.
- A Night of Terror on Seventh Street
A tragic lamp accident leaves a young woman severely burned and sparks a botched emergency response from the city's fire department.
- A Nighttime Intruder Grazed by a Bullet
A man found in a stranger's house at night narrowly avoids death, leaving the homeowner in a state of nervous collapse.
- Seattle Bakers Threaten New Year’s Strike
Local union demands an end to grueling night shifts, as bakery owners signal a refusal to yield.
- The Midnight Switchboard Dilemma
A local telephone company threatens to start charging for after-hours calls to deter 'trivial' late-night conversations.
- A Night at the Park for the Kobers
The local Eagles lodge and Shields Park management host a benefit performance to support a professional performer recovering from surgery.