Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 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.
Refine1 on
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1872 | 6 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 22 |
| 1878 | 12 |
| 1880 | 3 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 15 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1885 | 14 |
| 1886 | 5 |
| 1887 | 6 |
| 1888 | 8 |
| 1889 | 18 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 6 |
| 1892 | 31 |
| 1893 | 37 |
| 1894 | 61 |
| 1895 | 63 |
| 1896 | 1 |
| 1897 | 2 |
| 1899 | 13 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1909 | 1 |
| 1910 | 1 |
| 1929 | 1 |
348 stories matching unless
- The Contingent Death Warrant
A love affair turned lethal in Seattle, as a jilted woman penned a gruesome ultimatum to her lover.
- The Supreme Court Halts Seattle's Street Grading
A landmark court ruling forces the city to stop leveling streets unless they pay damages to homeowners.
- The Minister and the Mayor: A Scandal of Official Power
Seattle's Police Chief used his office to launch a secret investigation into a local minister, only to find the community he queried was on the preacher's side.
- The Farmers' Plan to Drain Lake Washington
Valley farmers eye an inexpensive ditch as the only solution to the catastrophic flooding threatening their livelihood.
- Seattle's First Female Lawyer Fined After Courtroom Altercation
Kate Kane, the city's only female attorney at the time, was fined after throwing water at a judge she claimed insulted her.
- The $100,000 Heartbreak in Federal Court
A Port Townsend woman sues her former fiancé in a sensational trial involving alleged hotel scandals, religious ultimatums, and a dramatic cross-country journey.
- Seattle's Moral Crusade Against 'Indecent' Literature
Local news dealers face legal threats unless they pull racy publications like 'The Police Gazette' and 'The New York Telegraph' from their stands.
- Street Car Strike Becomes a Lockout
The Seattle streetcar strike has shifted into a lockout, with the company resuming normal operations despite union efforts.
- Indigenous Labor Strike at the Canneries
Native workers on the Northwest coast initiate strikes for better pay as the salmon season begins.
- The Vagabond Fortune-Teller: Seattle Arrests 'Madame Malla' for the Crime of Telling Futures
In May 1877, the city’s law enforcement decided that predicting the future was a crime against public order. They dragged 'Madame Malla' from her shop, citing vagrancy, despite her having done nothing but read palms.
- The Fire Chief’s Citizenship Scandal
A legal dismissal for the Seattle Fire Chief is thrown into doubt by conflicting sworn statements regarding his birthplace.
- The Rainier Avenue Rail Strike
Electric railway workers face a wage cut to keep the line running as the receiver demands concessions.
- The Smallpox Scare of 1880
When a woman was quarantined in the local pest house for suspected smallpox, local doctors sparred over whether her condition was actually a common venereal disease.
- Streetcar Strike Looms in Seattle
Transit workers demand wage hike to 30 cents an hour and threat of a total system shutdown hangs over the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress.
- A Ruling on School Bond Commissions
A Superior Court judge rules that two men must pay back the county for taking commissions on the sale of school bonds.
- The 'Hard Times' of 1888: A City in Stagnation
As Seattle families struggle with unemployment and the high cost of living, the local press captures a city gripped by a financial slump.
- The Discriminatory Zoning of the 1880s
A local paper decries Chinese residents purchasing property, advocating for forced segregation to maintain white property values.
- Seattle Hires a Contractor to Keep South School From Sliding Into the Street
The school board awards an emergency bulkhead job after nine bids and a bonding standoff, with work required before the autumn rains.
- The Mayor vs. The Board of Health
Mayor Ronald demands the resignation of Seattle's health board in a bitter clash over political control and professional autonomy.
- The Strike of the Coastal Sailors
Sailors in Seattle and along the coast organize to demand higher wages, leading to a blockade of vessels in the harbor.
- The Brick Crisis: Why Seattle’s Boom Is Stalling Because of Empty Lots
An editorial warns that the city's rapid growth is being choked by a lack of commercial infrastructure, urging property owners to build or lease for development before capital flees to rival towns.
- The Fire Insurance Panic
Seattle insurance agents threaten to hike rates due to the city's dangerously narrow alleys.
- Mayor Ronald Defends His Appointment
Mayor Ronald addresses criticism regarding the appointment of J. M. Wolfe to the Board of Public Works.
- The Campaign to Purge Seattle’s Chinatown
In 1885, as anti-Chinese sentiment surged across the Pacific Northwest, a Seattle city official led a raid on the city's Chinatown, marking an early, aggressive move in the movement to drive the Chinese community out of the city.
- The Price of Refusing the Knights of Labor
A Seattle tavern keeper finds his livelihood evaporating after he crosses a powerful labor union, proving the reach of social and economic pressure in 1886.