Research the archive
Narrow 25,724 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 |
|---|---|
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1876 | 14 |
| 1877 | 18 |
| 1878 | 16 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 5 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 6 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1887 | 2 |
| 1888 | 2 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 13 |
| 1892 | 11 |
| 1893 | 12 |
| 1894 | 12 |
| 1895 | 27 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 5 |
| 1909 | 9 |
| 1910 | 7 |
| 1914 | 2 |
| 1916 | 4 |
| 1923 | 1 |
182 stories matching township
- The Colville Reservation Is Surveyed for White Settlement
A treaty strips the Colville Indian Reservation down to individual allotments, and surveyors are called to run more than 1,000 miles of lines across northeastern Washington.
- The Price of Local Control
An editorial debate on whether Kennewick should adopt a township organizational structure to handle road funding.
- The Survey That Stalled Because the Homesteaders Weren’t Local Enough
A federal commissioner refused to order a Pend d’Oreille township survey after examiners questioned whether the applicants actually lived on the land.
- The Great County Border War of 1886
When Pierce County attempted to poach King County's townships to bolster its own size and wealth, the local press didn't mince words about the 'unauthorized' territorial expansion.
- Saloon Keepers Challenge Dry Vote, Test Case Heads to Higher Court
After Spokane County townships vote dry, John W. Kritzer of Elk opens his saloon, gets fined $25, and appeals—setting up a legal fight over local option.
- Bureaucratic Delay, Bloody Quarrels: The Land Survey That Left Homesteaders in Limbo for 15 Years
Senator Squire demands answers from the General Land Office as settlers on townships 38-40 wait over a decade for their land titles, with boundary disputes turning deadly.
- The Settlers Beat the Railroad
A Pacific County land fight ends in favor of homesteaders after the Northern Pacific tried to claim their township under its indemnity grant.
- Kaniksu Forest Lands Opened to Homesteaders
Federal land near Box Canyon and Sullivan Creek is restored to entry, fueling settlement and speculation.
- The Fight for Gig Harbor Timber
A local settler exposes a land-grabbing ring in Pierce County, accusing them of fraudulent timber claims.
- The Homesteaders Who Couldn’t Own Their Land
A delayed federal survey left settlers near Sedro unable to prove title, borrow money or improve their farms—red tape with real human cost.
- The Fight Over Washington’s Missing School Sections
A Port Townsend case over “lieu lands” reaches a federal courtroom—and the title to hundreds of thousands of acres of school land.
- The Fight for the White River Bridge
A century before modern infrastructure debates, King County residents were struggling with the same basic problem: a river that split a community in two.
- Surveyors Blocked by Federal Red Tape
A new federal funding measure renders land surveying in Western Washington practically impossible, stalling pioneer settlement expansion.
- A New Frontier Near Neah Bay
Surveyor R.P. Shotts reports on the opening of a new township, promising a flourishing settlement for hardy pioneers.
- The Morning the Land Office Doors Nearly Came Off Their Hinges
Dozens of men stormed the Olympia land office at 9 a.m. to file on a timber township worth a fortune — but the filings were a railroad's opening move in a legal war over the public domain.
- The Fight for Local Control of Rural Roads
Farmers of Benton County argue for a township-based road system to bypass alleged political corruption and neglect of rural infrastructure.
- The Delinquent Tax Rolls of Territorial Seattle
A haunting, granular list of property owners from 1875 and 1876 whose land was seized by the county, documenting the precarious nature of early Seattle ownership.
- The Man Who Owns Fifteen Townships Comes to Town
W. H. Babcock, back in Walla Walla after six months in Trinidad, is selling off Douglas County land he bought at 75 cents an acre — now fetching up to $12 — and keeping thousands of acres back for sheep.
- The Battle Over Benton County's Governance
A fiery editorial calls for the decentralization of county power to curb political patronage and take road building 'out of politics'.
- The Timber Grab Controversy
The Secretary of the Interior rejects a homestead claim, ruling that the land was sought for timber rather than farming.
- The City’s Blueprint: Codifying Seattle’s 1886 Charter
A comprehensive look at the new municipal laws defining everything from fire prevention to drainage, setting the legal foundation for a growing city.
- The State Claims the Cedar River Timber
A last-minute state filing on timber lands near Cedar Lake leaves dozens of hopeful homesteaders empty-handed.
- A Surveyor's Delay, a Land Office Snarl, and Four Dead Men in Okanogan
Settlers near Loomis have waited years for their homesteads to be platted and put on the market while paperwork sat unfinished in Washington — and in the meantime, four men have been killed fighting over boundary lines nobody could settle.
- Fourteen Sections of Timber and Twenty Miles of Track
The Panhandle Lumber Co. laid plans for a logging railroad up the Diamond Lake road from the wye west of Newport — six miles this summer, twenty in the end, and maybe a permanent line clear through to Spokane.
- 1891 Special Election Asks Seattle-Area Voters to Annex Land
Seattle prepares for a sweeping expansion to pull the booming northern suburbs and Salmon Bay industrial corridors into the city limits.