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.

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.

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]

On November 3, 1885, fueled by racism and fear, this "Committee of 27" led a mob that forced the Chinese population of Tacoma onto trains for Portland, looted their homes and then burned them to the ground. Far from being an anonymous group, the Committee included Tacoma mayor Jacob Robert Weisbach (seated at center, full beard), as well as the sheriff, a city councilman and a judge. They had the support of the local newspaper and most of Tacoma's citizenry who blamed the Chinese for Tacoma's economic recession. The "Committee" was brought to trial for their actions, but the charges were dropped and the group declared heroes. Their actions became known throughout the country as the "Tacoma Method" for dealing with the "Chinese problem." In 1993, the Tacoma City Council formally apologized for the Committee's actions. (original photo by photographer "Jackson" copied for the Tacoma Times in 1935) (historylink.org) TPL-9638

Deportations--Tacoma--1880-1890; Exiles--Chinese--Tacoma;

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)

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;

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

Maps;

ca. 1889. The Emerson School, which was located at South 4th and St. Helens, was one of only a handful of schools in Tacoma that was not replaced with a newer school building when it was torn down. Built in 1889 and named after Ralph Waldo Emerson, it replaced the "Old North School" which was the first school built by the East Tacoma School District No. 13. Emerson offered both elementary and high school classes, and from 1890 to 1892 it housed the offices of the Superintendent and the School Board. After it closed in 1913, it was used to house soldiers during World War I. It was demolished in 1920. (Copy made from glass plate, October 3, 1958.) (Olsen: For the Record, p. 45-46)

Emerson School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1880-1890;

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;

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. 1890. Built in a modified Queen Anne style, the Annie Wright Seminary took its name from the daughter of Northern Pacific Railway president Charles B. Wright who came to Tacoma in the 1880's. The school was designed by Boone & Meeker, architects, and built by F.W. Lewis in 1883. It opened in September, 1884, with 94 girls as students. Annie Wright Seminary moved to new quarters at 827 Tacoma Avenue No. in 1924; the stately old school with its sharp gables and turrets was then demolished. Only the gymnasium and a remaining building remained to be leased to the Tacoma Drama League in 1925. G10.1-091

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

ca. 1890. This house was built in 1889 for Henry Hewitt Jr., one of the founders of the St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Co. Designed by Andrew J. Smith, it was considered to be one of the finest houses in Tacoma. The three story "castle" was occupied by several Hewitts, as well as Edgar T. Short and E. E. Rhodes. It was demolished in 1957 to make way for a parking lot for the Central Lutheran Church.

Hewitt, Henry J.--Homes & haunts;

ca. 1890. In 1890 Tacoma Fire Dept. Station # 3 was at 1212 North "G", near the corner of "G" and McCarver Streets. According to the 2nd Annual Report of the Tacoma Paid Fire Department, for the fiscal year ending May 31, 1891, Amil Krantz was listed as Captain in charge of at least five men. Krantz, age 36, was originally from Germany and was a former sailor. The station had a Silsby patent, fourth class rotary engine weighing in at 7,000 pounds which was drawn by two horses. In addition, there was an American Fire Apparatus hose wagon with two horses, which weighed 4,000 pounds and could carry 1000 feet of cotton hose. In this photograph from ca. 1890, the engines are decorated with flapping flags and garlands; it may have been taken on a holiday, perhaps the 4th of July or Memorial Day. Known as the Oldtown Station, Station # 3 occupied this building from 1885-1908. (2nd Annual Report, Tacoma Paid Fire Department, p. 24-25; 100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 30 )

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma--1890-1900; Fire engines & equipment--Tacoma; Fire fighters--Tacoma--1890-1900; Horses--Tacoma;

ca. 1890. Copy of customer print. Sepia portrait of J.B. (Jesse) Sutton, first president of Puget Sound National Bank. Pulling up stakes from Quincy, Michigan, the 62-year-old banker arrived in the "fastest-growing town on the Pacific Coast" in 1890. By the late 1880's, Tacoma was home to six national banks and six state and private banks. Sutton was to add one more, the Puget Sound Savings Bank which incorporated on May 8, 1890. He led the bank through the slowing Tacoma economy in the early 1890's and survived the bank closures that affected many Tacoma banks after the 1893 stock market panic. Sutton passed away in 1904. Prior to his death, the board of directors commended him for his "conservatism, good judgement (sic) and high sense of honor" that led the bank during the "stormy period of the great financial crisis of 1893, and establishing it firmly in the confidence of the people which it enjoys today." Puget Sound Savings Bank would evolve into the Puget Sound National Bank which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 1965. (Provorse: Banking on Independence)

Sutton, J.B.; Banking--Tacoma--1890-1900; Bankers--Tacoma;

ca. 1890. Fire Station #2, Tacoma Fire Department. View of firemen posed in the act of responding to an alarm, taken in the fire station's bedroom. Fire fighters had to be prepared to respond at all hours of the day and night and speed was of the essence. The actual date of this sepia photograph is not known; it may have been roughly in the 1890's. A similar picture is TPL 4118 which portrays the men of Station No. 5 in the same situation. Engine Co. #2 was first established in 1889 at 1735 South "E" (Fawcett). According to the 2nd Annual Tacoma Paid Fire Department Annual Report, fiscal year ending May 31, 1891, the company roster consisted of six men, including Captain P.W. Chapman, age 22, a former salesman. He appears to have been the 4th captain in less than a year at this station. In 1907, a new Station No. 2 was built at 2701 Tacoma Avenue So.; subsequent remodeling was done in 1935. The station is on both the City and National Registry. (2nd Annual Report Tacoma Paid Fire Department, p. 22; 100 Years of Firefighting in the City of Destiny Tacoma, Washington, p. 17, 42)

Tacoma Fire Department (Tacoma); Fire stations--Tacoma--1890-1900; Fire fighters--Tacoma--1890-1900;

ca. 1890. Frank C. Ross (right) and Charles A.E. Naubert were two of the early boosters of Tacoma. This photograph is a copy negative made in July of 1939 of an old tintype, taken around 1890 when they were in their early thirties, and were actively developing the Tacoma & Lake City Railway. The T & LC started at No. 26th and Union, ran south past Snake Lake to Manitou, and from there to American Lake. Although the railroad operated for less then ten years, it was instrumental in opening both the north end and the south end of Tacoma to development. Charles Naubert died in 1940; Frank Ross in 1947. Copy was made for Mr. Short of the Tacoma Times. Ross & Naubert was a real estate firm in Tacoma. (Casey Jones Locker, by F. Shaw pp.79-82)

Naubert, C. A. E.; Ross, Frank C.; Business people--Tacoma--1890-1900;

ca. 1890. Copy of an old photograph ordered by Virginia Rosch. The photograph is of a woman and a small boy in front of the Bay View Hotel and Restaurant. The sign for the restaurant reads "Open Day and Night." (WSHS)

Rosch, Virginia--Associated objects;

ca. 1890. Copy of customer print. A woman, elegantly dressed in a long sleeved black blouse and long black skirt, has one hand on an ornate wooden chair. She wears a watch tucked in the waistband of her skirt; it is attached to a long gold chain. Her lighter colored hair is rolled and probably fastened in the back. This undated sepia photograph was copied for Lindstrom's Home Furnishings on August 11, 1954; the original was possibly taken in the 1890's.

Portraits; Women--Clothing & dress; Chairs; Lindstrom's Home Furnishings (Tacoma);