Northern Pacific Railroad track along Commencement Bay, Tacoma, Washington Territory, circa 1885. Mt. Tacoma (Rainier) and tideflats in background. The railroad tracks were built on fill dirt. The water-filled half-moon section would also be filled in to become the railroad yard, called appropriately the "half-moon yard." KING-008, G76.1-101 (Digital copy only. No print or negative available).

Boats at Northern Pacific dock, Tacoma, Washington Territory, circa 1885. The owners of the warehouse in the center of photograph were not identified. The large building to the far left is the Blackwell Hotel, considered New Tacoma's first hotel. Built by the Northern Pacific Railroad, it opened on January 1, 1874 and closed in 1884. It was razed during the summer of 1901. KING-002, TPL-1095

In this photograph believed to be from the mid 1880s, a group of Puyallup Indians gathers on the shore of the Puget Sound to gamble. The game they are playing appears to be the bone game, where two teams of 10-12 sit opposite each other. One team has four bones which they pass to the distracting accompaniment of the pounding of sticks and singing of chants. The other team must guess who has the bones. In the background are longboats and a bridge. The Puyallup village during this time period was believed to be at the foot of South 15th St. KING-003, TPL 2897.

Three-masted ship "Eldorado" at old coal bunkers, Tacoma, Washington Territory, circa 1885. These are believed to be the Northern Pacific coal bunkers projecting into Commencement bay that were completed in 1882 at a cost of $250,000 and considered at that time to be the most modern of their type on the North Pacific Coast. Ships like the "Eldorado" were a common sight waiting to take on loads of coal. (Hunt, "The Coal Bunkers," History of Tacoma) KING006, TPL 1076

Wharf scene on Commencement Bay, terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Tacoma, Washington Territory. Photograph was taken circa 1885. Masted ships are docked waiting to unload/load cargo.

Tacoma's Alert Hose Co. No. 2 volunteer firefighting company, in uniform, were photographed on August 8, 1885 as they prepared to join the funeral parade to be held that day for former President Ulysses S. Grant. President Grant's portrait is framed in black and placed aboard the company hose wagon. He had died on July 23, 1885, and the Territorial Governor of Washington had declared that the day of his funeral would be an official day of mourning. The firehouse was located at So. 13th & A Street, which was later the location of the Tacoma Railroad & Power substation. Alert Hose Co. No. 2 was probably one of four hose companies organized between March and August, 1885. The company's hose apparatus may have been built by the volunteers themselves. Adelbert Uriah Mills, center in black beard holding bouquet, was the captain and would later become the Commissioner of Public Safety. A partial list of firefighters' names appears in a Tacoma Daily Ledger article on March 9, 1913. (Talbot: 100 Years of Fire fighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 15, TDL 3-9-1913, p. 45) KING-013, TPL 2896.

Philadelphia : J. L. Smith Map Publisher.
1 map; 82 x 65 cm. Damaged. Shows addition names, boundaries and block numbers, cable railways, electrical railways and motor lines. Includes key to places of interest. Scale 1 in. = 733 feet [ca. 1:8800]

View looking south of the Northern Pacific Railroad track along Commencement Bay, Tacoma, Washington Territory, circa 1885. Sidewheeler steamship North Pacific at dock. The Northern Pacific wharf lay below today's Stadium Way and would serve, according to historian Murray Morgan, as a "third world between Old Tacoma and New Tacoma." (Morgan: South on the Sound, p. 48-49) KING-001, TPL-018.

A group of Puyallup Indians with their longboats (canoes) on the Puget Sound around 1886. Behind them can be seen the Northern Pacific Railroad bridge. The Puyallups were primarily fishermen, hunters and gatherers. The local salmon provided their primary food source, but was also a symbol of reverence to the tribe. In the Medicine Creek Treaty of 1854, they ceded many of their territories but retained their fishing rights. Their village at this time was believed to be at the foot of North 15th. KING-014, TPL 2895.

This is the original Annie Wright Seminary designed by architects Boone & Meeker as it appeared circa 1886. The private school for girls opened two years before in September of 1884, thanks to its benefactor, Charles B. Wright. The building's foundation came from Wilkeson stone and brick. Its sharp gables and turrets added to the impressive ediface. A gymnasium was added in 1899 and was the sole remaining building left when the school was razed in 1924. Due to growing enrollment, a new campus arose at 827 Tacoma Ave. N. the same year.

Finishing touches were being put on the newly built Washington College building at 714 Tacoma Ave. So. Thanks to the generosity of Charles B. Wright, money had been donated to start the private school for boys, the male equivalent of Annie Wright Seminary. It opened on September 2, 1886, with an enrollment of 65 boys, half of them day students. The Depression of 1892-93 forced many students to leave and the school closed in 1892. This building later served as the Tacoma High School from 1898 to 1906 when the high school moved to the remodeled Tourist Hotel at N. 1st & E Streets. It was later demolished in the summer of 1912 to make way for the new Central School Building and the site address changed to 601 So. 8th St.

In this circa 1886 photograph, a Native American family lounges in their long boat near the shore. In the background can be seen the Northern Pacific Railroad bridge. The canoe is loaded with supplies, probably returning or setting off for the family's hunting ground. The Puyallup tribe members were primarily hunters, gatherers and fishermen. During this time period, their village was believed to be located at the foot of North 15th. KING-015, TPL 2894.

ca. 1887. Copy exposure of historical print. This copy of a historical print shows a view of Tacoma from the tideflats just south of "The Boot" circa 1887. In the distance near left is the (first) Central School with tower, located at South 11th & "G" Sts. The imposing Tacoma Hotel, 913 A Street, is at the far right. Pilings indicate the area that must be filled so that railroad tracks and warehouses could eventually be built. The future site of the City Waterway (now Foss Waterway) lies beyond the fallen timber and tree stumps. Copy made August 31, 1950.

Cityscapes; Central School (Tacoma); Tacoma Hotel (Tacoma); Tree stumps--Tacoma;

ca. 1887. This view of Pacific Avenue, looking north from 10th, was taken in 1887. Horse drawn carriages and wagons fill the unpaved street. The Fife Hotel, 742-50 Pacific Avenue (at left background), was still under construction with scaffolding visible. The building at 930 Pacific Ave. was home to the Tacoma News. The News and The Daily Ledger, both founded in 1883, were the two biggest newspapers in Tacoma at this time. The Ledger was a morning paper; The News was an evening paper. Some years later, both papers were bought by Sidney A. Perkins. Ultimately, they were taken over by The News Tribune. Copy made August 31, 1950. (TPL-2297 and TPL-8147)

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1880-1890; Carts & wagons--Tacoma; The News (Tacoma); Newspapers--Tacoma--1880-1890; Fife Hotel (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma--1880-1890; Building construction--Tacoma--1880-1890;

Buffalo, N.Y. : Matthews, Northrup & Co., 1887.
1 map; 78 x 80 cm. Damaged and taped, mounted on linen backing. Shows drainage, railroads, county boundaries, townships, sections and quarter sections, railroad lands sold and unsold, government lands, school sections, etc. Inset: map showing "Northern Pacific Railroad, Oregon R. W. & navigation and Oregon & California Co. S. Systems". Relief shown by hachures and spot heights. "Scale 6 miles to one inch" (1:380,160)

Back of Photo:
Portway's Store about 1886 or 1887. Purchased from L.W.B., the first business building in what is now Auburn. Building later renamed and known as Star Hotel.

ca. 1888. Copy exposure of historical negative. Taken approximately around 1888, this viewpoint of Tacoma shows a rapidly growing city. Fallen trees and stumps in the foreground seem to indicate more development will be occurring. Pacific Avenue is at the far right with many buildings already constructed. There are a few buildings perched at the edge of the deep ravine known as Galliher's Gulch. The structures near the photograph's center would eventually make up the city's brewery district. The Northern Pacific Railroad would aid in the growth of the brewery district by running a spur track from the waterfront to the area. Near left center is the multi-storied Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. Malt House. Within ten years of this photograph, Pacific Brewing & Malting was advertising itself as "one of the most complete brewing and malting plants on the Pacific Coast." Copy made August 31, 1950.

Cityscapes; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1880-1890; Tree stumps--Tacoma; Canyons--Tacoma; Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. (Tacoma); Brewing industry--Tacoma--1880-1890;

75 members of the Washington State Constitutional Convention, which met at Olympia during July and August of 1889, commencing July 4th. Each delegate was identified by a small number placed in the corner of the portrait. The assembled delegates chose James P. Hoyt of King County as their convention president. As can be seen, all the delegates were men. Only one of the seventy five delegates was born in Washington Territory. Several came from Europe, one from Canada, and eighteen different states were claimed as birth places. The convention remained in session until August 22, 1889. The constitution it framed was ratified on October 1, 1889, and President Harrison proclaimed Washington a state on November 11, 1889. Copied for the Tacoma Times newspaper but not used, 7-17-1939, fifty years after the first "Congress" met. ALBUM 4. (Washington: the Evergreen State p. 118-120; An Illustrated History of the State of Washington, p. 188) TPL-8244

Constitutional conventions--Olympia;

ca. 1889. Copy negative made July 6, 1939 of a photograph of the old Capital building in Olympia where the Constitutional Congress met in 1889 to prepare the document that completed Washington's transition from territory to state. The building is surrounded by a white picket fence. Several people relax in the grassy area next to building. Photograph ordered by Mr. Short of Tacoma Times. Photograph reproduced in the Tacoma Times 07-19-1939 p. 27 TPL-8245

Capitols--Washington Territory;

ca. 1889. Cropped version of C8535, image 2, of old Capital Building in Olympia circa 1889 where documents were prepared to complete Washington's transition from territory to state. The two-story building with bell tower is surrounded by a white picket fence. Several people lounge on the grassy lawn next to the fence.

Capitols--Washington Territory;

ca. 1889. Roster of Tacoma Police Department, 1889. According to the Tacoma Police Department's website, City Ordinance No. 77 officially created the Tacoma Police Department on April 15, 1885. This was the roster of the police department four years later in 1889; photo and identification provided by Carl Jacobs. Lower Row: Jack Keating, Jack Fitzgerald, John Smith, Mike Day, Hans Larson, Orvil Kaylor, William Solstein, John Flett, Chas. June, Ed Woods, Jack Ellison. Second Row: - - Gildchrist, Arthur Hice, clerk, Tom Fisher, Sterling Leroy, Capt. Leslie Ellis, Steve Murphy, Al Harris, - - Crawford, Jack Kinney, Minor Cudahy. Third Row: Wm. Westover, James Donivan, Ed Flanigan, W.H. Grinnell, J.B. McCoy, Capt. A.S. Read, Jack Martin, - - Harris, - - Stevens, Martin Kinney, Harvey Miller, Con Cane. Top Row: John Cunningham, Minor Btotten, - - Strand, Louis Granwich, D.O. Smith, Joe Bush, Jack Burke, Fred Ewing, Chas. Myers, Bill Hawley, - - Butcher and Bill Casey. Chief of Police in 1889, not shown, was listed on the TPD website as A.M. Chesney. TPL-7117

Tacoma Police Department (Tacoma); Police--Tacoma--1880-1890;

ca. 1889. Copy of a map of the Eastern Section of Washington, early history events, to 1889, marked on map. (WSHS).

Maps;

Back of Photo:
Old Central School, Tacoma. May 30, 1889 (a Thursday noon). Looking north from South 12th between G and Yakima. Crowd is listening to Prof. F. Gault, Tacoma school supt., introduce Gov. Miles C. Moore.

ca. 1889. These are the members of the first Washington State House of Representatives who were elected in 1889. Their small oval portraits are placed within a shield and under the words "First General Assembly of House of Representatives, Olympia Washington" and the date "1889." Original photo copied by Richards Studio.

Politicians; Legislative bodies--Washington;

ca. 1889. Copy of an old print, bird's eye view of Tacoma in 1889 issued by Geo. W. Traver, real estate & investment agent. In the center is the aerial view of 1889 Tacoma. It is surrounded by drawings of important Tacoma landmarks. Included are St. Peters Church, Jaeger Block, Holmes & Bull, Dickson Bro., Tacoma Lumber & Manufacturing, Puget Sound Ironworks, City Market, Central School, Hotel Fife, T.P. & B. Transfer Co. Stables, Duimette Building, Merchants National Bank, Mount "Tacoma" (Rainier) and Waters the Grocer. TPL-9665

Maps--1880-1890;