ca. 1946. A group of at a refreshment table at the USO #2, 713-15 Commerce St., around 1946. The border in the background is formed of a line of thumbtacked photographs of the USO Club. (photograph by F.L. Powell of Tacoma)

ca. 1947. Orson Welles (right), noted performer and director of stage, screen and radio, posed in this undated photograph with a longtime friend and Army-Navy USO Club leader Bennie D. Brown. The occasion was possibly in March of 1947, when Mr. Welles spoke to 5,000 persons in the Armory as a guest of the Tacoma Jewish Association in observance of Brotherhood Week.

ca. 1947. Orson Welles (standing), noted performer and director of stage, screen and radio, conferred with an unidentified African American pianist in this undated photograph. Two women in hats looked on from the drawing room beyond. The occasion was possibly in March of 1947, when Mr. Welles spoke to 5,000 persons in the Armory as a guest of the Tacoma Jewish Association in observance of Brotherhood Week.

On July 28, 1946, over 7,000 people attended the second US Music Festival at Point Defiance Park. Featured performers were the Seattle Elks Band, the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Pacific Northwest, the Puget Sound Navy Orchestra, the 448th Special Service Band, Sharps and Flats led by Joe Jordan and the Three Dynamos. (TT 7/27/1946, pg 2 and 7/28/46, pg 1; TNT 7/27/46, pg.1 and 7/29/46, pg. 1& 2; Official photograph, U.S. Army Air Forces McChord Field)

Volunteers of USO No. 2 shown in this undated World War II era photograph include community activist Helen Stafford, second from right. USO No. 2 opened at 713 Commerce Street in September 1942 to serve Tacoma's African American servicemen and closed in March 1947. This location also served servicemen during World War I as the Army-Navy Club. TPL-5977

ca. 1946. One of the functions of the United Service Organizations (USO) was to create a welcoming atmosphere for servicemen and women away from home, especially during the holidays. From the look of the guests' hats and leis, the social event in this undated photograph was held during the holidays in the main hall of the USO #2, 713-15 Commerce St. The military was still segregated during World War II, so USO #2 was provided for the entertainment of African American soldiers.

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.

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).

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

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.

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.

Members of the Tacoma High School faculty and the senior class, class of 1900, posed on the porch and steps of the school then located at 714 Tacoma Avenue South. The site was the former location of the Washington College, private school for boys. Two students have been identified in the photograph: George (or Georgia) Armstrong and Roy Knapp. Roy Knapp is seated in the second row of steps, second from left, next to an unidentified female. He was the business manager in 1899-1900 for the "Tahoma," the monthly publication of the Tacoma High School students and would pass away in 1906. Two cadets sit on the step railings. They are holding their distinctive hats and appear to be wearing similar clothing, i.e. uniforms. Cadets would participate in drills and would have an armory prepared for their use. KING 012, TPL 1038.

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.

View of three ships including a sidewheeler at the Northern Pacific dock, Tacoma, Washington Territory. The sidewheeler included in this circa 1885 photograph is possibly the "North Pacific," an early steamboat that operated in Puget Sound. Several people are already on board. KING-004, TPL-1096

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.

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.

In a view looking north, two individuals are seen walking on a wood plank sidewalk along the Northern Pacific wharf near Commencement Bay circa 1885. KING-007, TPL 400.