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 |
|---|---|
| 1859 | 1 |
| 1860 | 1 |
| 1872 | 3 |
| 1876 | 6 |
| 1877 | 6 |
| 1878 | 4 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 3 |
| 1884 | 2 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 7 |
| 1889 | 13 |
| 1890 | 1 |
| 1891 | 5 |
| 1892 | 28 |
| 1893 | 22 |
| 1894 | 18 |
| 1895 | 34 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 4 |
| 1904 | 3 |
| 1905 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 6 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1912 | 1 |
| 1914 | 3 |
| 1915 | 2 |
| 1916 | 3 |
| 1917 | 2 |
| 1925 | 1 |
193 stories matching vacant
- City Launches Aggressive Anti-Weed Campaign
Officials threaten property owners with assessments if they do not clear fire-hazardous brush from vacant lots.
- Seattle's Unemployed Turn Vacant Lots Into Gardens
A relief committee has placed sixty-seven families on borrowed land and handed out seed, but most applicants live in the north end while most lots are in the south.
- Tacoma’s War on Rubbish
The Anti-Compulsory Vaccination society leads a citywide cleanup campaign, deputizing police to hunt down vacant-lot litter.
- The Housing Squeeze of 1889
With not a single vacant house in town, developer W.H. Kneeland is rushing to build four new double tenements.
- A Neighborhood Stench in the West End
Residents of Tacoma’s West End demand action after a broken sewer begins dumping raw waste onto an open lot.
- Two Apologetic Highwaymen Held Up a Tacoma Liquor Dealer
A short cut through a vacant lot, a big revolver, and robbers who blamed hard times—but left the Odd Fellows charm because it was a present.
- Suspicious Blaze Consumes South Bend Building
A vacant commercial building in South Bend, Washington, burns to the ground under circumstances police suspect were intentional.
- Rainier Street House Lost to Suspicious Fire
A vacant home burned for the third time recently, fueling suspicions of arson.
- The High Price of Speculation
Real estate owners in 1872 Olympia are holding vacant lots hostage, refusing to sell or lease, effectively strangling the city's economic growth.
- The Great Housing Squeeze: Seattle's Winter Crisis of 1876
As the territory prepares for winter, a correspondent reports that only two comfortable dwellings remain vacant in Walla Walla, highlighting the acute housing shortages gripping Washington communities.
- A Tragic Discovery in Port Townsend
A local grocer is found in a vacant lot with life-threatening wounds, leaving behind a letter indicating mental distress.
- Law and Order Rally at Fourth and Marion
Hundreds of citizens, led by the Law and Order League, gathered in a vacant lot to demand moral reform and nominate a local ticket.
- A Backroom Coup in Montesano: County Democrats Oust Their Chairman
Party leaders declared every office vacant while F. D. Arnold was absent, then elected Edmund Croft to replace him.
- A Home Lost to Fire in the Growing City
A vacant house on the corner of Hyde and Lite streets is destroyed by fire, leaving a young couple who had only recently moved in with nothing.
- The Watch Thief of Front Street
A desperate thief snatched a gold watch from a construction site, triggering a neighborhood chase that ended in a vacant lot.
- The Fight Against Tacoma's Rubbish
Health officials and the Pure Food Council declare war on 'old shacks' and vacant-lot dumping ahead of a summer influx of tourists.
- Seattle’s Great Fire: Six Years Later
Reflecting on the 1889 conflagration that leveled the city and the resilience that rebuilt it from the ashes.
- Tacoma’s Clubwomen Launch First 'Homemakers' School'
Prominent local women seek to professionalize domestic labor through a new technical curriculum, even as they face a citywide housing crunch.
- City Council Chaos Over Marshal’s Failure to Enforce Gambling Laws
A heated dispute breaks out in North Yakima's city government over allegations of corruption and a marshal who refuses to enforce ordinances against gambling.
- The Cedar Boom Transforms Edmonds
A surge in timber production is turning the small town into a bustling manufacturing hub, quickly exhausting the local supply of vacant housing.
- A Tragic End in a Vacant Lot
A well-known local man takes his own life after a struggle with mental distress and addiction.
- The Town Marshal’s New Power: Who Gets to Live in Olympia?
In March 1860, Olympia’s Board of Trustees passed a controversial ordinance targeting Native residents, requiring them to have special permission from the Marshal to reside on any street or vacant lot.
- The Shadow Over Hayes Street
A vacant house, recently traded for farmland in Olympia, goes up in flames as neighbors blame the itinerant men drifting through Seattle's industrial fringe.
- The House on J Street: A Tenant’s Defiance
When Milton Spinning bought a house in Seattle for his own use, he didn't expect to find a stranger occupying it against his will.
- The Cemetery Crisis in Walla Walla
A growing city faces a grim reality as its burial grounds reach capacity and legal disputes stall expansion.