ca. 1870. Beginnings of Tacoma City circa 1870. Photo taken by Anthony Carr, who was Old Tacoma's first photographer. Cabin nearest the two trees on the left is Job Carr's cabin and his farm is in the foreground. The Steele Hotel, Tacoma's first hotel, is the "large" L-shaped building at left of center. (Photo donated by Ron Karabaich) (Caroline Gallacci & Tacoma Historical Society: Old Tacoma, p. 11)

Steele Hotel (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma--1870-1880; Carr, Job--Homes & haunts;

ca. 1873. "Tacoma, the terminus of the Northern Pacific Rail Road, Washington Territory" image on early stereopticon slide taken by Oliver Dennie of Portland, Oregon (slide from the collection of Dan Kerlee, Seattle, Washington). This photograph, and also KERLEE - 02, shows the area on top of the bluff in "New Tacoma" around what is now South 7th & Pacific Avenue. The unidentified man in the foreground is leaning against a tree stump close to where the Northern Pacific Railroad headquarters building would be constructed in 1887. Once the Board of Directors of the Northern Pacific Railroad formally approved locating the terminus, hundreds began swarming to the area. Tents were set up on vacant lots for which $1 per front foot was paid per month and houses quickly sprang up for waiting occupants. Financial woes would shortly grip the nation, subsequently slowing down the rush of people to Tacoma. (Prosch: McCarver and Tacoma, p. 179-80-article)

Cities & towns--Tacoma;

ca. 1873. "Water front and wharf at Tacoma, W.T." Early stereopticon slide by Oliver Dennie, Portland, Oregon. Pioneering men and women pose by the waterfront next to a downed tree circa 1873. The town was becoming civilized with picket fences, two-storied buildings and even washing hung on a line. In the background at left is the Hanson, Ackerson & Co. lumber mill, store and wharf. The Steele Hotel, Tacoma's first hotel, is the large two-story building at right. (From the collection of Dan Kerlee, Seattle, Washington). (Prosch: McCarver and Tacoma, p. 181)

Waterfronts--Tacoma; Piers & wharves--Tacoma--1870-1880; Pioneers--Tacoma; Hanson, Ackerson & Co. (Tacoma); Lumber industry--Tacoma--1870-1880; Mills--Tacoma; Steele Hotel (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma--1870-1880;

ca. 1873. "Old Town of Tacoma, W.T." Early stereopticon slide by Oliver Dennie, Portland, Oregon (From the collection of Dan Kerlee, Seattle, Washington). The building with darker roof in the distance at center-left is believed to be the Steele Hotel at 2105 No. 30th St. It was built in 1868 and was the first frame building and first hotel built in Tacoma. Also on the left near the foreground is a sign indicating "carpenter shop," possibly referring to the Ball & Bonney carpenter shop which opened between 1870 and 1872. On the right side of the photograph in the distance are reportedly a saloon and a dance hall. (dark roof, light exterior). This photograph was taken circa 1873 at the foot of the present No. 30th St. looking south. It was then called Second Street. (Prosch: McCarver and Tacoma, p. 179)

Cities & towns--Tacoma; Houses--Tacoma--1870-1880; Streets--Tacoma--1870-1880;

ca. 1873. Frederick Law Olmsted plat map for City of Tacoma (New Tacoma), Washington Territory. Created for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and the Tacoma Land Company

Maps; Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1822-1903; Tacoma Land Co. (Tacoma); Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

ca. 1873. "Terminus of Tacoma, looking toward Mt. Rainier, W.T." Early stereopticon slide by Oliver Dennie, Portland, Oregon (From the collection of Dan Kerlee, Seattle, Washington). One or two wooden shacks and a handful of tents occupy the top of the bluff near what is now South 7th & Pacific Avenue. This view is the beginning of New Tacoma as pictured in the fall of 1873. Commencement Bay at left. (Prosch: McCarver and Tacoma, p. 185)

Cities & towns--Tacoma; Commencement Bay (Wash.); Tree stumps--Tacoma; Houses--Tacoma--1870-1880;

ca. 1873. Frederick Law Olmsted plat map for City of Tacoma (New Tacoma), Washington Territory. Created for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and the Tacoma Land Company

Maps; Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1822-1903; Tacoma Land Co. (Tacoma); Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

ca. 1880. Herbert S. Huson was elected mayor of Tacoma April 5, 1892. Mr. Huson defeated his Democratic opponent Alexander Parker by a 155-vote margin. According to historian Herbert Hunt, the campaign was highly heated with Alexander Parker being accused of favoring the Chinese in 1885. Many bets of money and goods were made as to the outcome of the election, including an unusual reckoning whereby a man who had backed the losing candidate was pelted with rotton eggs for a full 15 minutes. The newly elected mayor, Herbert S. Huson, was a graduate of Grinnell College and a native of Wisconsin. He came to Washington in 1883 as an assistant engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad and built a switchback across the Cascades. He would later help to organize the Citizens' National Bank. The pioneer railroad builder would pass away in October of 1927 at Cornelius, Oregon. This picture is from "History of Washington, Vol. 2" , edited by Julian Hawthorne, American Historical Publishing Co., 1893. p.157 ALBUM 16. (History of Washington, Vol. 2, p. 559-560; Obit., T.Times 10-10-27)

Huson, Herbert S.; Mayors--Tacoma--1890-1900

ca. 1880. Henry Drum was elected mayor of Tacoma on May 1, 1888. Mayor Drum, a prominent banker and staunch Democrat, defeated A.C. Smith by a majority of 52 votes out of a total of 1,712. Mr. Drum had arrived in New Tacoma only five years before his mayoral election and had immediately immersed himself in the business and social functions of this growing city. He was a stockholder and director in many businesses including the Skagit Railway & Lumber Co., Fidelity Trust Co., and Tacoma Lumber & Manufacturing Co. as well as one of the organizers of the First Unitarian Society in Tacoma and was an active Mason. Mr. Drum served one term as mayor, choosing not to run for re-election. He became the only Democrat elected to the first state Senate and served several terms. This picture is from William F. Prosser's "A History of the Puget Sound Country" The Lewis Publishing Company, 1903. opp p.96 (North Pacific History Co.: History of the Pacific Northwest, p. 307-309) ALBUM 16. Also G1.1-055

Drum, Henry; Mayors--Tacoma--1880-1890

ca. 1880. Charles Hebard and Franke Tobey Jones taken before they moved to Tacoma from Michigan.

ca. 1880. Alexander Smith (A.S.) Abernethy, elected Mayor of Tacoma September 6, 1882. Mr. Abernethy served as Mayor in 1882 & 1883. He was born in New York in 1813. In 1850, he was asked by his older brother George to come to the Northwest to manage the Oak Point (saw) Mill. George Abernethy (1807-1877) went on to become Oregon's first Governor. Alexander Abernethy was Oak Point's most prominent citizen from 1850-1880, campaigning for Washington Territory and later serving as a Republican in local political positions. He had a land claim west of Longview in Cowlitz County. Already an elderly man when he served as Mayor, he died five years later in February of 1888 and was buried in the family cemetary on his land claim. (History of Stella, Oak Point, Eufaula, Coal Creek and Surrounding Areas; US GenWeb Archives)

Abernethy, Alexander Smith; Mayors--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1880. John W. Sprague, elected mayor of Tacoma December 10, 1883. First mayor of the consolidated city. General Sprague received the Medal of Honor for service during the Civil War. He was the first president of the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce and was instrumental in starting many of the first businesses in early Tacoma. Photo from Herbert Hunt's "Tacoma, Its History and Its Builders, Volume 1" opp p.190 (Olsen: Tacoma Beginnings, p. 56) ALBUM 16. (Additional information received from a reader)

Sprague, John W.; Mayors--Tacoma--1880-1890

ca. 1880. David S. Lister, Sr. was elected mayor of New Tacoma May 9, 1881. Under a special act of the Legislature, passed November 5, 1881, entitled "An act to confer a City Government upon New Tacoma," the Board of Trustees was merged into the "Common Council," and the President of the Board became the Acting Mayor. Mr. Lister was the owner of an iron foundry located at 17th & Pacific Avenue. This picture is from "History of the Pacific Northwest: Oregon and Washington" compiled and published by the North Pacific History Company, Portland, Oregon, 1889. opp p.600 ALBUM 16

Lister, David S.; Mayors--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1880s. View of coal bunkers on Commencement Bay, Tacoma, W. T. Sjostrum Collection

Commencement Bay (Wash.); Ore industry--Tacoma;

ca. 1880. Henry Drum was elected mayor of Tacoma May 1, 1888. He defeated A.C. Smith, the Republican candidate, by a 52-vote margin. Mayor Drum, a native of Girard, Illinois, was an industrious man who had been a teacher, brick manufacturer, stock raiser, and banker, all by the age of 24. He came to New Tacoma on Christmas Eve, 1883, and in conjunction with Walter J. Thompson, bought the bank of New Tacoma, which was renamed Merchants' National Bank. Mr. Drum was elected to the school board in 1887 and the following year became the mayor of Tacoma. This picture is from "History of Washington" edited by Julian Hawthorne, American Historical Publishing Co., 1893. p.61 ALBUM 16. (North Pacific History Co.: History of the Pacific Northwest, p. 307-308)

Drum, Henry; Mayors--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1880. Portrait of General John W. Sprague, elected December 10, 1883, as first mayor of the consolidated city of Tacoma. According to Herbert Hunt's Tacoma: Its History and Its Builders, Vol. 1, General Sprague had been petitioned by a large number of citizens to run for the mayor's office. He had stated that he did not desire election but would not refuse should he be selected. John W. Sprague was 66 in 1883 and had retired from the Northern Pacific Railroad that January. He had arrived in Tacoma in 1870 as general superintendent of the railroad and soon rose in prominence. Hunt described him as a "delightful man, a good speaker, fair and true." TPL-576 ALBUM 16. (Hunt: Its History and Its Builders, Vol. 1, p. 295-96) Also G2.1-023

Sprague, John W.; Mayors--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1880. Theodore Hosmer was elected mayor of New Tacoma May 3, 1882. Mr. Hosmer, a native of Ohio, came to Tacoma in 1873 as secretary of the committee appointed to select the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Once Tacoma was chosen as the terminus, Mr. Hosmer was left in charge of clearing the area of cedar and fir trees, laying out the town and preparing the property for market. The Northern Pacific Railroad Co. organized the Tacoma Land Co. and put Mr. Hosmer in as general manager, a position that he held until his resignation and departure from the city in 1882 due to his wife Louise's ill health. He would return from Philadelphia after the death of his wife and become the president of Tacoma Light & Water Co. Mr. Hosmer was active in St. Luke's Church and the Annie Wright Seminary, Washington State Historical Society, and the Union Club. Hosmer Street in the city's south end is named after the former mayor. Theodore Hosmer would die in Tacoma on Sunday, January 28, 1900, and his remains transported to Sandusky, Ohio, accompanied by his only son Alexander. According to Edward N. Fuller's "Biographical sketch of Theodore Hosmer" in the October 1900 Washington Historian, Mr. Hosmer had been one of the founders of the first village and city government of Tacoma, president of the first board of trustees, and unanimously elected the first mayor of the city under its first charter in 1882. Picture from Herbert Hunt's "Tacoma, Its History and Its Builders, Volume 1" opp p.198 ALBUM 16. (Fuller: Washington Historian, October 1900, p. 5-11)

Hosmer, Theodore; Mayors--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1880. R. Jacob Weisbach was elected mayor of Tacoma May 5, 1884. Mr. Weisbach, a grocery store owner and active in the German Society, defeated E.S. (Skookum) Smith by a 39 vote margin. According to author Herbert Hunt, Mayor Weisbach openly sympathized with the anti-Chinese element and led in the forcible expulsion of the Chinese from Tacoma in 1885. The mayor and 26 other citizens, many of them prominent in business and society, were taken into federal custody but eventually all charges were quashed. Picture for Herbert Hunt's "Tacoma, Its History and Its Builders, Volume 1" opp p.360 ALBUM 16. (Hunt: Tacoma Its History and Its Builders, Vol. 1., p. 319-20; p. 355-)

Weisbach, R. Jacob; Mayors--Tacoma--1880-1890

ca. 1883. coal bunkers and NP terminus at New Tacoma, W.T. from "West Shore" magazine January 1883 p.10

ca. 1884. The Tacoma Hotel, 913 A street, with its commanding view of the Tacoma tideflats, was one of the best hotels north of San Francisco. Designed by the famous architect Stanford White, it had its official opening in August of 1884. The scaffolding at the north end of the building suggests that it was still under construction when this photograph was taken. Note the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks crossing the almost completely barren tideflats; mills and manufacturing structures had yet to be fully built. The body of water at the left is the Puyallup River as it flows unfettered into Commencement Bay. The massive Tacoma Hotel was destroyed by fire on October 17, 1935, and was never rebuilt; its annex would be remodeled and called the "new" Tacoma Hotel in January, 1936.

Tacoma Hotel (Tacoma);

ca. 1884. coal bunkers at New Tacoma, W.T. from "West Shore" magazine March 1884 p.83

ca. 1884. "New Tacoma, Puget Sound, W. T." Early stereopticon slide by Watkins, San Francisco, CA Watkins' New Series # 5201, Pacific Coast Views (From the collection of Dan Kerlee, Seattle, Washington) see C52158 (far left) for possible location of buildings in this photo. The area in the center is part of the Tideflats before any dredging. Of the two large buildings in the background center-right, the dark building is the forge shop of the Northern Pacific Railroad shops between South 17th & South 19th, east of Pacific Ave. The light building is the car shop.

Cities & towns--Tacoma; Houses--Tacoma--1880-1890; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

ca. 1885. Five men are standing in front of the Halstead House in this photograph by U. P. Hadley that dates between 1879 and 1885. Located at 707 Pacific Avenue, the Halstead House was one of the nicer hotels in Tacoma at that time; it even had a covered walkway leading to the "water closet" out back. Built in 1879 by Jacob Halstead, in 1885 the proprietors were Freeman S. Crosby and Hugh Kenealy. The building to the south of the hotel, with the large Standard Steilacoom Beer sign was the Steilacoom Beer Hall, 711 Pacific Avenue, owned by Fred Seger.

Hotels--Tacoma--1880-1890; Halstead House (Tacoma); Business districts--Tacoma--1880-1890; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1885. When this circa 1885 photograph was taken Annie Wright Seminary (now School) was so new that there were still tree stumps in the front yard at the photo's left. There was no staircase to the sidewalk built yet. Annie Wright opened on September 3, 1884, and was named in honor of the school's benefactor, railroad magnate Charles B. Wright. It was located near Wright Park at 611 Division Ave. The school's purpose was to educate the daughters of pioneers so that they could contribute to the "righteous upbringing of this great country." $350 a year was the school's first tuition and that included "board, furnished room, tuition in English branches and Latin, and laundry service." In 1924 the school moved to a new campus at 827 Tacoma Ave. No. which provided more space for growth. The old building, with foundation of Wilkeson stone, was razed. The only remaining building, the gymnasium, was leased to the Tacoma Drama League in 1925. (www.ag.org/about/history)

Annie Wright Seminary (Tacoma); Private schools--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1885. Photograph of "The Tacoma" (Hotel) shortly after it was built - before any of the later additions were added. The massive hotel, focus of much civic pride, opened on August 8, 1884. It had cost more than $250,000 to build, an enormous sum at the time, and was the design of architect Stanford White in 1881 who, according to Murray Morgan's South on the Sound, had been commissioned by the Northern Pacific Railroad and Tacoma Land Co. In subsequent years, several additions and renovations were made to further extend the hotel's reputation as "the finest west of the Mississippi and north of San Francisco." The Tacoma Hotel even boasted of having for a time a tame bear named Jack who spent time in the hotel lobby and was a drinker of beer. The elegant hostelry attracted many prominent visitors who enjoyed breathtaking views and luxurious furnishings. It was destroyed by fire on October 17, 1935 and never rebuilt.

Tacoma Hotel (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1885. The area around what is now 9th and Broadway as viewed circa 1885. The real estate business on the right side is Hewitt and Hill at 901 C. (now Broadway). The white building with a bell tower in the center is the old Pierce County Courthouse at 920 C (Broadway). The Courthouse was built circa 1882 and sold to John S. Baker in 1905. It was demolished a few years later. BiCentennial Project #75346-71

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1880-1900; Hewitt & Hill Real Estate (Tacoma); Pierce County Courthouse (Tacoma);

ca. 1885. St. Luke's Episcopal Church at original location of 602 Broadway. It was built in 1883 with gray sandstone obtained from the Wilkeson quarries. The church, designed by Portland architect Joseph Sherwin, was based on an old English country church. Railroad and real estate magnate Charles Wright had pledged $30,000 towards the construction in tribute to his daughter, Kate Elizabeth. In 1934 the church was dismantled and reconstructed at 3601 No. Gove St., a careful process that took over twelve years to complete. (copy of original) Bi-Centennial Project # 75346-54

St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Tacoma); Episcopal churches--Tacoma; Churches--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1886. Tacoma Wheelmen's Club

ca. 1887. This is St. Luke's Episcopal Church as it looked c1887 when it stood at 602 Broadway. St. Luke's was built in 1883 with gray sandstone brought from the Wilkeson quarries. In 1934 it was dismantled, and reassembled brick-by-brick at 3601 No. Gove. St.

Churches--Tacoma--1880-1890; St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Tacoma);

ca. 1887. A group of ten men stand by a very tall picket fence. Beyond the fence can be seen a number of hop kilns. There is a large stack of wood to feed the fires used to dry to hops. The caption on the photograph only identified it as "Washington Territory".

Hops--Washington--1880-1890; Brewing industry--Washington--1880-1890; Fences