In 1937, you could ride the steamer Virginia V, operated by the West Pass Transportation Company, twice a day from Tacoma to Seattle. It left the Tacoma Municipal Dock at 7:15 a.m. and 1:45 p.m, and returned from Seattle at 1:10p.m. and 7:45 p.m. A round trip ticket sold for 60 cents. They also ran a Sunday excursion trip that left Tacoma at 3:30 p.m. and returned at 8:30 p.m. The Virginia V, built in 1922, was 120 ft. in length with a 24-foot beam and a capacity of 325 passengers. She operated between Tacoma and Seattle from 1922 to 1940 carrying passengers by way of the West Pass of Puget Sound. (T.Times 8/27/1937 p.5)
Ferries--1930-1940; West Pass Transportation Co. (Tacoma); Mass transit--1930-1940; Transportation--1930-1940;
Side view of "Virginia V" ferry on Tacoma waterway. Ferry owned by West Pass Transportation Company. Glimpse of Western Fibre Furniture Company building in background.
Ferries--1930-1940; West Pass Transportation Co. (Tacoma); Mass transit--1930-1940; Transportation--1930-1940;
Tri-motored Stinson airplane crash at Tacoma Air Field. State Patrol Sgt. Lou Geer, patrolman Mike Wayno, Deputy Sheriff Lyle Lathrop and patrolman Cliff Tolson examine the tangled wreckage that killer 4 and injured 7 sight-seers. (T.Times, 10/25/37).
Tri-motored Stinson airplane crashed at Tacoma Air Field. Nightime scene. The sight-seeing flight over Puget Sound ended with four killed and seven critically injured. One wing is intact with "Fly 50" inscribed. (T. Times, 10/25/1937, p.5).
ca. 1937. Wrecked automobile off roadway in South Tacoma, circa 1937. Automobile is a 4-door sedan with round rear window and spoke wheels. Impact seems to have occurred on the driver's side as both the driver's door and rear door were heavily damaged. The accident has drawn a crowd of curious spectators, including children.
Offices of Mueller-Harkins Buick showing chairs, typewriter, glassed-in offices and advertising banner. The banner reads "When better automobiles are built, Buick will build them." Mueller-Harkins had been located at this address since 1918; they would move in 1948 to 455 St. Helens Ave.
Buick automobile; Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1930-1940; Offices--Tacoma--1930-1940; Mueller-Harkins Motor Co. (Tacoma);
ca. 1937. Men from the Young Men's Business Club planning Air Circus scheduled for Sunday, June 13, 1937. It is a luncheon meeting and appears to be in a restaurant with blackboard in background listing last names and "Customers Only" sign. Announcement posters on wall. The three men seated in the center of the picture are, left to right, Al Oswald, YMBC aviation committee, Arthur Cook, secretary of the YMBC, and an unidentified man. (filed with Argentum)
Air shows--Tacoma--1930-1940; Events--Tacoma--1930-1940; Young Mens Business Club (Tacoma);
ca. 1937. Automobile accident at 4th and M Streets circa 1937. Man on right wearing suit and cap and holding booklet. Younger man on left wearing short sleeved ribbed shirt and felt hat and holding a folded sheet of paper. It is possible that they are exchanging information.
ca. 1937. Automobile accident in Gig Harbor. Mr. Whettmore. Five men standing on gravel road beside damaged two-door automobile in this circa 1937 photograph. They may be exchanging information. Other vehicles have pulled over on the left.
ca. 1937. U. S. Coast Guard ship 402 moored beside a wharf below the 11th Street Bridge. By June of 1937, the CG 402 had been permanently assigned to Tacoma. In peace time, they operated under the direct orders of the Treasury Department; but in wartime they answered to the secretary of the Navy. The 402 had been built on the Atlantic coast and during Prohibition, the speedy vessel had served as a rum chaser. The 402 was surplussed by the Navy in 1946 to the Boy Scouts. She is still in use, as of August 2001, as the Sea Scout Ship Charles N. Curtis #110. She is moored on the Thea Foss Waterway. (T. Times 6-3-1937, pg. 8-article).
Vessels; Government vessels; Sea Scouts (Tacoma); Piers & wharves--Tacoma;
ca. 1937. Automobile accident in South Tacoma, circa 1937. Highway lined with vehicles, including an Armour (meat products) truck, and telephone poles. Large group of people standing around wrecked automobile.
Listed in Richards Photography records as "Hiway Truck Wrecking Company." This is possibly the Highway Truck Equipment Company at 3224 South Tacoma Way. The company is listed in the 1938 City Directory as auto wreckers. View of rebuilt truck for McLean's, pulling long, flatbed trailer. Parked at intersection. Billboard across highway advertising Super Pyro.
Photograph ordered by "Hiway Truck Wrecking Company." View of a rebuilt truck for McLean's, pulling a long, flatbed trailer. The truck is parked at an intersection beside a power pole and rural mailboxes. Billboard across the highway is advertising Super Pyro antifreeze, "it tames old man winter." A timber yard lies beyond the billboard. The company listed in the Richards records as "Hiway Truck Wrecking" is possibly the Highway Truck Equipment Company at 3224 South Tacoma Way. The company is listed in the 1938 City Directory as auto wreckers.
Unidentified man in dark suit poses with an Oldsmobile coupe automobile parked in front of the Seymour Conservatory in Wright Park. This photograph was taken on behalf of the American Automobile Association (A.A.A) on February 24, 1938.
American Automobile Association (Tacoma); Oldsmobile automobile; Seymour Conservatory (Tacoma); Wright Park (Tacoma); Parks--Tacoma--1930-1940; Greenhouses--Tacoma--1930-1940;
New GMC Truck for Ohanapecosh Hot Springs, Mt. Rainier National Park, at Packwood. Probably taken behind Tacoma General Motors Truck Company, 307 Puyallup Ave. In 1924, N.D. Towers and Dr. A.W. Bridge constructed a small hotel and two bathhouses at a U.S. Forest Service campsite known as Ohanapecosh. The resort continued to develop and expand through the administration of the Ohanapecosh Hot Springs Co. until the contract was terminated in the early 1960s. By 1967, all of the resort facilities had been dismantled and the hot springs were allowed to return to their natural, pre-excavation condition.
General Motors trucks--1930-1940; Trucks--Tacoma--1930-1940; Ohanapecosh Hot Springs Co. (Packwood);
New GMC Truck for Ohanapecosh Hot Springs, Mt. Rainier National Park, at Packwood. Probably taken behind Tacoma General Motors Truck Company, 307 Puyallup Ave. In 1939 you could stay at Ohanapecosh Lodge for $4 a day and dinner cost $1. The lodge and public baths were run by the Ohanapecosh Hot Springs Co. and owned by Dr. Albert W. Bridge of Tacoma. They were a popular tourist facility and visitors came from afar to partake of the mineral waters of Ohanapecosh Hot Springs. The resort and hot springs operated until the 1960's. The Park Service bought the resort, removed the buildings and converted the springs back to their natural state. All that remains today are boggy seeps, remnants of the hot springs. (www.nps.gov/archives)
General Motors trucks--1930-1940; Trucks--Tacoma--1930-1940; Ohanapecosh Hot Springs Co. (Packwood);
Artistic view of hanger, blimp and crew. Special hanger built at Fort Lewis to house the new 105 feet long airship.Men from across the United States make up the 125 member 3rd Balloon Company under Major M. E. McHugo. (T.Times, 3/11/1938, p.1).
Balloons (Aircraft)--Fort Lewis; Balloonists; Air pilots--Fort Lewis; Military personnel--Fort Lewis; Fort Lewis (Wash.);
Close-up of portrait of Army Air Corps blimp pilot Master Sergeant A. E. Miller seated in the two-man motorized undercarriage of the blimp. (T.Time, 3/11/1938, p. 1).
Balloons (Aircraft)--Fort Lewis; Balloonists; Air pilots--Fort Lewis; Military personnel--Fort Lewis; Fort Lewis (Wash.); Miller, A.E.;
On March 10, 1938 the soldiers of Fort Lewis' 125 member 3rd Balloon Company, under the command of Major M. E. McHugo test flew the newest addition to their arsenal. The new blimp was 105 feet lomg and could attain a top speed of 40 miles per hour. It was considered to be a great advance over the blimps used during the First World War. (T.Times, 3/11/1938, p.1).
Balloons (Aircraft)--Fort Lewis; Balloonists; Air pilots--Fort Lewis; Military personnel--Fort Lewis; Fort Lewis (Wash.);
Fort Lewis ground crew holding lines to the new blimp on its first flight since arriving on February 10. The crew is part of the 125 member 3rd Balloon Company. (T.Times 3/11/1938, p.1).
Balloons (Aircraft)--Fort Lewis; Balloonists; Air pilots--Fort Lewis; Military personnel--Fort Lewis; Fort Lewis (Wash.);
Fort Lewis's new 105 feet long blimp flies at forty miles per hour on its first flight since arriving at the army base on February 10. The new blimp serves as an observation balloon. (T.Times, 3/11/1938, p.1).
Balloons (Aircraft)--Fort Lewis; Balloonists; Air pilots--Fort Lewis; Military personnel--Fort Lewis; Fort Lewis (Wash.);
This photograph from March 1938 shows the crew members of the 3rd Balloon Company at Fort Lewis struggling with ropes to position a helium filled blimp in its specially constructed hanger. Considered the latest in observation balloons, it was equipped with a manned, motorized undercarriage that held both a pilot and co-pilot. The 105 foot long blimp could attain a top speed of 40 miles per hour. (T.Times, 3/11/1938, p.1).
Balloons (Aircraft)--Fort Lewis; Balloonists; Air pilots--Fort Lewis; Military personnel--Fort Lewis; Fort Lewis (Wash.);
Dirigible ground crew of the 125 member 3rd Balloon Company, Fort Lewis, surround the motorized C-6-3 undercarriage and the airship's pilots Master Sergeant A. E. Miller and Corporal Henry Pelhum. The new blimp is making its first flight since arriving on February 10. (T.Times, 3/11/1938, p.1).
Balloons (Aircraft)--Fort Lewis; Balloonists; Air pilots--Fort Lewis; Military personnel--Fort Lewis; Fort Lewis (Wash.); Miller, A.E.; Pelhum, Henry;
Caterpillar engine belonging to contractor J. D. Shotwell on the back of a General Motors cabover-type truck in front of Tacoma GMC Truck Company. Workmen loading a spare tire, drum of grease or oil waiting to be loaded.
