Woodworth & Co. workers are dwarfed by the size of concrete beams spanning Wakefield Drive (South Tacoma Way) and Center Street. The Yakima Avenue Bridge is under construction after voters approved a $1.5 million dollar bond to finance the project. Designed by Horace Whitacre, the new Tacoma bridge is the highest pre-stressed concrete span in Washington State. The steeple of Holy Rosary Church can be seen in the background. Trueblood #451.

Bridge construction--Tacoma; Structural frames; Girders; Concrete; Scaffolding; Woodworth & Co. (Tacoma); Yakima Avenue Bridge (Tacoma); Whitacre, Horace;

ca. 1910. Yakima Ave./Center St. tunnel. Drilling equipment involved in the construction of the Yakima Ave. Bridge in 1959 opened an abandoned railroad tunnel just beyond Yakima Avenue and Center Street. The tunnel was begun by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1909 but construction abruptly stopped the next year and never started again. It is possible that water conditions caused the halt of the planned 8,600 foot tunnel. The tunnel was believed to be about 26-feet high and about 100 feet below the present street grade. Questions arose later regarding what, if anything, was used to back-fill the tunnel with cord wood and dirt mentioned as possible solutions. Discovery of the abandoned tunnel did not ultimately stymie the building of the 1.3 million dollar bridge; it would be dedicated in September of 1961. G45.1-007 (TNT 7-2-59-article; TNT 7-5-59-article)

Railroad tunnels--Tacoma;

Senator Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson (at center) traveled to Tacoma in February of 1964 to help launch the start of Tacoma's Center Street urban renewal project. Governor Albert D. Rosellini stands immediately to his right. Tacoma Mayor Harold M. Tollefson is seen at far left. "Scoop" Jackson played a major role in national politics from his election to Congress in 1940 until his death in 1983. ALBUM 16. (Also G67.1-152)

Jackson, Henry M., 1912-1983; Legislators--Washington--1960-1970; Rosellini, Albert D.; Governors; Tollefson, Harold M., 1908-1985; Mayors--Tacoma--1960-1970; Urban renewal;

Pacific Avenue near 72nd looking south - The gas station on the corner is the Hill Alexander Texaco Station, 7201 So. Pacific Ave. Across the street at 7202 So. Pacific is Ferranrte's Furniture. The golden arches of McDonald's can be seen at 7217 So. Pacific.

The City of Tacoma honored musician Joe Jordan for his many contributions on the occasion of his 85th birthday, Feb. 11, 1969. A ragtime pianist, composer and arranger, Jordan worked with several musical legends in his career, including Fats Waller, Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong. Once a piano player in a small bar in Cairo, some insist that Jordan was the prototype for the piano player in the Humphrey Bogart film, "Casablanca." He also served as a captain in the United States Army. Mayor A.L. "Slim" Rasmussen is pictured presenting the honorary plaque to Joe Jordan, accompanied by his daughter, Marie Lindsey. TPL-6359

Jordan, Joe; Musicians--Tacoma--1960-1970; Lindsey, Marie; Rasmussen, Albert Lawrence; Mayors--Tacoma--1960-1970; Awards;

ca. 1908. Yakima Ave.-Center Street tunnel - Union Pacific Railroad (from copy negative). The first Holy Rosary Church, a wooden structure, is in the background. This is the site of the planned Union Pacific Railroad 8,600-foot tunnel circa 1908. Construction began about 1909 but abruptly halted the following year and was not resumed. It was thought that water conditions may have caused the stoppage. The abandoned tunnel was discovered in 1959 when drilling equipment involved in the construction of the Yakima Street Bridge broke into the tunnel.

Railroad tunnels--Tacoma; Union Pacific Railroad Co. (Tacoma); Holy Rosary Church (Tacoma);

An old tenement building, scheduled for demolition, was used for training purposes by the Tacoma Fire Department as a practice burn in April of 1961. Eleven small fires were set, then put out, before the building was allowed to burn down. Fifteen fire departments from King and Pierce Counties participated in the day-long training exercise. attracting crowds of curious onlookers. (TNT, 4/17/1961, p. 1) Trueblood #459

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Abandoned buildings--Tacoma; Building deterioration--Tacoma--1960-1970;