• Built in 1892 at 625 Commerce, this became the Old City Hall when the County-City Building opened in 1959. This building is on the City, State and National Historic Registries. circa 1905.
• Printed on front: City Hall. Tacoma, Wash.

Circa 1910.

Circa 1919.

Circa 1905.

Mayor John W. Linck was photographed at his desk in the mayor's office in Old City Hall in June of 1909. As Mayor of Tacoma he was invited to the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held on the campus of the University of Washington that year. He had won election to the mayor's office in April of 1908, defeating Democratic incumbent George P. Wright. Prior to serving as the city's mayor, he had extensive legal and political experience in the Midwest. John Linck served one term as mayor after which he spent several years as a justice of the peace.

Linck, John W.; Mayors--Tacoma--1900-1910; Old City Hall (Tacoma);

ca. 1893. Tacoma Public Library on 5th floor of Old City Hall. The Tacoma Public Library moved to more spacious quarters on the fifth floor of (Old) City Hall, 625 Commerce St., in 1893. There was room for 20,000 volumes although the library at that time contained only a fraction of that amount, about 1000. Tall ceilings and large rooms that were tastefully decorated, including a cheerful room set aside as a women's reading space, provided patrons with a comfortable library atmosphere. Bookcases were mostly placed against the walls leaving a clear space for reading tables and display cases. Among the many paintings and wall decor at the library was an oil painting of City Librarian William Curtis Taylor who was its first librarian. It is pictured above at left center. Over 1300 people checked out books regularly out of a total of 1434 members. Membership had increased by 1100 during the year. (TDL 5-3-1893-article)

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1890-1900; Bookcases--Tacoma; Books; Showcases;

Early in January of 1926, Tacoma voters were flooding into the Registrar's office on the third floor of City Hall to qualify to vote in the upcoming city primary and general elections. The throng included three new voters, pictured center of the counter. The trio was composed of Ingeborg Ekberg, Alice Raymond and Vera Landers, all students at the College of Puget Sound and all having just turned 21. According to city clerk Genevieve Martin almost 9,000 voters had registered in the first five days for the elections, which included another run for the Mayor's office by four time incumbent Angelo Vance Fawcett. TPL-3209 (TNT 1/11/1926, pg. 17- cropped picture, TNT 1/9/26, pg. 14-article on registration)

The Young Men's Republican Club presented a framed and colored portrait of President Calvin Coolidge to Tacoma's City Council on April 20, 1927. The photograph would join the likenesses of Presidents (Teddy) Roosevelt, Wilson, and Harding in the council chambers. Mayor Melvin G. Tennent accepted, on behalf of the council, the portrait from Al Ray, president of the Young Men's Republican Club. L-R are: Mayor Tennent (hand on photograph); Commissioners Ira S. Davisson, Dyer Dyment, Jesse Silver, Acting commissioner Asa Troyer, and Al Ray. G23.1-007 (TDL 4-21-27, p. 3)

Portrait photographs; Gifts; Tennent, Melvin Green; Mayors--Tacoma--1920-1930; Davisson, Ira; Dyment, Dyer; Silver, Jesse; Troyer, Asa E.; Ray, Al; Municipal government--Tacoma--1920-1930;

At midnight on January 16, 1920, the United States went "dry." Overnight, breweries and distilleries closed their doors as the 18th Amendment made the manufacture, sale or transport of alcohol illegal. America was thirsty and enterprising individuals stepped forward to fill the void with alcohol made from home made distilleries, or "stills." Many of these apparatus, such as the one pictured at (Old) City Hall, were confiscated in Pierce County. (TDL 8/15/1920, pg B-5) G24.1-077

Prohibition--Tacoma; Stills (Distilleries);