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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1883 | 2 |
| 1885 | 6 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 7 |
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42 stories matching torch
- A Trail of Fire Through Port Townsend
When four hundred torch-bearers paraded the bluff at night, they turned the seaside town into a spectacular display of political theater.
- A Close Call at the Blacksmith Shop
A blow torch ignites gasoline fumes at Jameson Newell's shop, nearly destroying the facility and two automobiles.
- The Torchlight Parade for 'Prosperity'
Thousands of Seattle residents packed the streets and an armory in 1889 to cheer Republican candidates, a political display that felt more like a frantic race for jobs and survival.
- The Torchlight Mob at Frye's Opera House
In 1885, Seattle laborers and anti-Chinese activists gathered for a massive, torch-lit demonstration to demand the removal of the city's Chinese population, marking a dark chapter of exclusionary labor violence in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Democracy of Seattle Lights Up Pioneer Place
Torches, bonfires, and fiery rhetoric define a raucous political rally for Grover Cleveland.
- The Torch That Saved the Train: How a Fireman’s Light Scared Off Bandits in South Tacoma
In a dark stretch of rail near Lakeview, engineer H.W. Burke faced down armed robbers until his fireman charged them with nothing but a lit torch.
- The Senator Who Stood on the Train
In the dead of night, a torch-lit mob marched through Spokane to greet U.S. Senator Warren G. Squire. But as he stepped onto the platform to deliver his victory speech, the rails betrayed him: the train pulled away before he could finish, leaving only his voice echoing into the dark.
- The House That Burned for Insurance Money
A jury denies a fire insurance claim after evidence reveals valuables were moved out and the owner likely torched the home.
- Vigilante Warning Issued After Arson Attempt in Pasco
A deliberate attempt to torch a local saloon has the community threatening swift, extrajudicial justice against 'fire bugs'.
- The Price of Progress: Arson in the Shadow of the Opera House
When an old commercial building was moved to make way for Seattle's new Opera House, a firebug turned the vacated structure into a torch.
- The Day the Boardwalk Burned: Seattle’s Most Audacious Arson Attempt
On a quiet April afternoon in 1900, an arsonist tried to torch the home of Judge E. H. Scott on Yesler Way. A brave housekeeper fought back with a poker, saving her employer and thwarting the fire.
- The Bonfire of the Vanities on Occidental Square
Months after a jubilant, torch-lit victory party in Seattle, the city’s new power-brokers were left holding the bag as lawlessness and economic despair gripped the town.
- Proprietor of Rainier Valley Record dies after fiery explosion
Richard Nash, a Seattle newspaper proprietor, succumbs to burns after a gasoline tank he was repairing exploded, igniting his office.
- The Corpse, the Fire, and the Vanishing Policy
William Radloff disappeared after putting a corpse in his house and torching the structure. With his life-insurance policy now lapsed, his wife has filed no claim—leaving Seattle to wonder what really happened.
- Ritzville Under Siege by a Serial Arsonist
After a failed attempt to torch a warehouse, the town council posts a reward for an elusive firebug terrorizing the business district.
- Volunteer Firefighters Pass the Torch
Walla Walla's volunteer fire department officially disbands as members receive exemption status.
- The Governor’s Rally in Snohomish
A political procession of 1,000 torchbearers marches through Snohomish to support John H. McGraw’s gubernatorial bid.
- The Smoke That Choked Seattle
A Seattle timber investor returns from the Puget Sound to find the region shrouded in disaster as forest fires consume the landscape.
- Democratic Torchlight Parade Challenges Republican Rule in Yakima
Hundreds of supporters defied rainy weather in a massive display of local political energy as the gubernatorial campaign heated up.
- The Queen City gets a new tugboat
A festive launch of Stetson & Post's new tugboat ends in a brush with catastrophe.
- The Test of the Chemical Fire Extinguisher
A skeptical crowd gathers at Second and Marion to watch a new, pressurized fire-fighting contraption in action.
- Terror in the Tunnel: A Ghostly Watchman’s Tale
A railroad trackman, left to guard a suicide victim’s remains in a Seattle tunnel, claims the severed head spoke to him in the dark.
- 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.
- A Penny Dreadful for the Pioneer
A Seattle editor reviews a piece of pulp fiction, warning that if the author keeps killing off the population at this rate, there will be nobody left to read the story.
- He Burned the Deed to Prove His Love — Then Sold Her House for $1
A Tacoma wife says her husband coaxed her into signing away the family home, torched the paper to win her back, and secretly sold the property to his son.