The Orpheus Club of Tacoma was founded on May 4, 1903, at St. Luke’s Parish House. Their first appearance as a chorus fell on the evening of Wednesday February 3, 1904, at the First Presbyterian Church of Tacoma for a memorial and benefit concert in order to aid the family of William Buchanan Gibbons. (1) The first official concert as a club was the night of Monday June 20, 1904, at the Masonic Temple. Inaugural concert members included Dr. A. Draper Coale, Charles A. Hook, Ralph C. Cunningham, Thomas J. Handforth, Walter E. Liggett, Donald McPherson, Jonathan Smith, William A. Bull, Robert Davies, William W. Seymour, George A Stanley, Orrello C. Whitney, Charles S. Crowell, Herman A. Lembke, Harry R. Maybin, Louis W. Pratt, Dr. Benjamin S. Scott, Paul Shaw, Gilbert G. Chapin, W. P. Cameron, George S. Davis, William W. Dow, Samson E. Tucker, Dr. Randall Dow, Samson E. Tucker and Dr. Randall S. Williams, and Keith J. Middleton. There were 700 guests in attendace. The following day the Tacoma News stated: “In attack, volume and tone, shading, color, balance of parts and harmonious blending of voice, points which make or mar in choral singing, all these were notably good, and the result in the ensemble was complimentary in the highest degree to the musical intelligence of the club and the skill of its director.” (2)

During the clubs’ peak years of the 1930s, membership reached 72 active members. Throughout the century, the Orpheus Club performed at various notable locations including the Stadium Bowl, Camp Lewis Theater, Tacoma Theatre, Chamber of Commerce, the Veterans Hospital, the Masonic Home, Cushman Hospital and McNeil Island. (1) The club performed in the Pacific Northwest region at least twice a year since their Inauguration through the mid-1990s. (2)

The Public Broadcast Foundation was formed in the late 1970s in an the unsuccessful attempt to save the public status of Channel 13 in Tacoma. [1] In 1979, Channel 13 was sold by Clover Park School District, who had originally bought the channel out of bankruptcy in 1975, and operated it as a public station. [2] The school received an offer from a private company and decided to sell the station at a profit. This was opposed my members of the community, who formed the citizen action group Save-Our-Station-13 (SOS-13) which organized and attempted to find other public buyers to purchase the station, such as local Community Colleges, to keep it operating as public. This incited a large community debate in which the FCC (Federal Communication Commission) had to decide if the sale was allowed, and SOS-13 filed a petition. Ultimately, the School district was able to sell the channel to Kelly Broadcasting Co. Of Sacramento, California in 1979 for a sum of $6.25 million dollars, and used the money from the sale to build a new high school. [3]

The Hilltop Action Coalition was founded in 1989 and as of 2023 is a non-profit organization. The HAC's aim is to “mobilize and empower diverse individuals, families, businesses and other public and community organizations to build a safe, clean, healthy resilient and united community.” They hold community meetings once a month, provide monthly reports to the City of Tacoma on issues within the community, and hold workshops and training sessions that help create connections between residents, schools, and businesses in Hilltop. [1] Since their inception they have lead initiatives like cleaning up overgrown yards, starting block-watch programs, and painting over gang graffiti. [2]

The Alling Park Garden Club was organized on May 7, 1947. The Club's objectives were to “give beauty to others, study plant material, promote new ideas in plants, trees, birds, and the wise use of our natural resources.” The Alling Park Garden Club fulfilled their objectives through hosting programs, exhibits, garden tours, plant exchanges, and other special projects such as Garden Therapy and Civic Development. Eventually a Junior Alling Park Garden Club grew out of the original. The Alling Garden Club was a member if the Capital District of Washington State Federation of Garden Clubs and the National Council of State Garden Clubs, Inc.

The Topaz Circle began in Tacoma in November 1901 as a local branch of the Women of Woodcraft. It was named after the November birthstone. [1] The Women of Woodcraft was a women's auxiliary of the national Woodmen of the World fraternal organization founded in 1890. [2] The Topaz Circle organized various social and educational programs for its members including lectures, dances, readings, and performances. The organization continued to host gatherings in Tacoma through the 1980s. [3] The Woodmen of the World has is now WoodmenLife, a not-for-profit, privately held insurance company for organization members. [2]

The Sixth Avenue Baptist Church, 2520 Sixth Avenue, occupied two different buildings at this site from 1904 until 2010. The church was organized May 21,1901 in a meeting of fifteen people held at Sixth Avenue and Anderson Street. With funding from the First Baptist Church they began holding services and hired a pastor. The first church building was constructed of wood at Sixth and Pine and dedicated February 7, 1904. By 1906 the membership totaled 168 and a Ladies’ Missionary Society had been organized (1).

By the early 1920s the need for a larger building was evident and plans for a new church were drawn up by the architectural firm Heath, Gove, & Bell (2). The former building was moved to the back of the lot for use as a community center and the new building was constructed with a Wilkeson sandstone exterior. Robert Walker, church member and president of the Walker Cut Stone Company donated the cost of the labor. The new building was dedicated April 12, 1925, and in 1926, a pipe organ was purchased from Sherman Clay Co. and installed.

By 1941, church membership had grown to 478. An additional building intended for education and Sunday School was first proposed in 1948. Fundraising and design began at that time, although ground was not broken until 1963, by which time the original wooden building had been demolished. The new wing was dedicated January 12, 1964 (3).

In the late 1960s, a need for revitalization was recognized and a young pastor was engaged. The church shared its space with different agencies such as Associated Ministries, the Food Bank, and Habitat for Humanity. An effort was made to engage UPS students and a non-denominational group of teenagers was organized, the J.C. Generation. Space was provided for Lamaze Group, Writer’s Club, and Delong Preschool (4). Nonetheless, membership declined by 50% between 1975 and 1985 to 164, as indicated by a congregational profile commissioned in the mid-1980s (4,5).

By 2009 attendance at Sunday service had dwindled to 25. The church building was put up for sale and the last service was held there January 31, 2010 (6,7).

As of this writing in 2023, the building houses a wedding venue business, Events on 6th (8). It also serves as home for the congregation Soma Tacoma (9).

The Tacoma Lutheran Service Center was a facility in Tacoma offering recreation, fellowship and social services to armed forces personnel. The first Lutheran Service Center in Tacoma was operational during World War II, from February 28, 1942 to August of 1946 and was located at 1003 Pacific Avenue (1).

The second Center began in 1951, when local Lutheran pastors recognized the need for continued service to the local bases. They met with a representative of the national Lutheran Service Commission and agreed to elect a permanent committee to develop a new local center (2). The Commission hired Robert P. Canis, a former U.S. Army Chaplain, to become the service pastor and director of the Center. He arranged the location and furnishing of the Center’s new quarters at 117 1/2 S. 10th Street, around the corner from its former site. He was assisted by lay women in the paid position of Hostess-Secretary. The Center was equipped with ping-pong and pool tables, record player and television set. Parties, holiday celebrations, picnics, outings to Mount Rainier and other area parks were arranged. Young women from the local Lutheran congregations volunteered as hostesses in the evenings and on weekends, socializing with the servicemen and assisting with the programs. A newsletter, Front and Center, was published (3, 4).

In 1956, Rev. Canis left to act as service pastor in the Lutheran Service Center in Keelung, Formosa (3). A series of lay women directed the center for its remaining years. Mrs. Marian I. Kirschenman was at the helm when the Center, facing declining attendance, merged with The Tacoma Seamen’s Center around 1965 (5). The national Commission phased out its support in 1967, and the local Committee endeavored to continue operations for another year, ceasing in 1968 (6).

In 1968 the Tourist and Convention Bureau of Tacoma chairman Din Fuhrmeister appointed a Centennial Planning Committee led by Don St. Thomas as the chairman, John. H. Anderson as general chairman, Norman D. Rowley as executive director as well as the formation of a non-profit corporation to plan and conduct the Centennial observance which took place the week of June 28 – July 5th, 1969. The celebration included Tacoma’s schools, businesses, industries, military, and various members of the community. Major events during the celebration included an opening ceremony, centennial parade, USAF Thunderbirds airshow, dance performances, concerts, US Naval Ship arrivals, and fireworks display.

The object of the National League for Woman’s Service was “to coordinate and standardize the work of women of America along lines of Constructive Patriotism, to develop the resources and to promote the efficiency of women in meeting their every-day responsibilities to Home, to State, to Nation and to Humanity; to cooperate with the Red Cross and other agencies in meeting any calamity-fire, flood, famine, economic disorder, etc. And in time of war to supplement the work of the Red Cross, the Army and navy, and to deal with questions of women’s work and women’s welfare.” [1] This league was created when the United States began to enter into World War I in early 1917, with the Tacoma Daily Ledger reporting on March 29, 1917, that “this emergency organization has been formed as the result of the bitter experience of European nation in the present terrific struggle. Germany had already carefully cataloged the industrial strength of her women and had little difficulty in making the necessary rearrangement which freed thousands of men from industry.” [2]
The Tacoma Daily Ledger reported on May 6, 1917 that 800 women had signed up for service, quoting the State Vice Chairman for the league in explaining, “this National League for Women’s Service means right now simply an opportunity for American Women to show their patriotism in tangible form.” [3]