Construction continues on the James P. Stewart Intermediate School, 5010 Pacific Avenue, in May of 1925. Scaffolding surrounds the multi-storied structure which cost over $400,000. Tacoma's school population had been increasing and six intermediate schools were planned to alleviate overcrowding. Stewart Intermediate was the second to be completed, after Jason Lee. The school, designed by architect Roland Borhek and built by John Biehn & Co., contractors, was originally called the South Central Intermediate School. By the time the school was opened in September of 1928, the name had been changed to honor Tacoma's first school teacher, James P. Stewart. The school is still being used today with a slight name change to the James P. Stewart Middle School. G47.1-082; BU-11,440 (TNT 5-16-25, p. 20)

Stewart Junior High School (Tacoma); Public schools--Tacoma--1920-1930; Building construction--Tacoma--1920-1930; Progress photographs;

Cargo moving. An unidentified worker is perched aboard equipment believed to have been manufactured by Dallas Machinery. The vehicle is transporting lumber from one of Tacoma's docks. G49.1-214

Shipping--Tacoma--1920-1930;

View looking up Saint Helens Ave. This photograph was taken from the top of the Winthrop Hotel, 773 Broadway, on May 15, 1925, the day before its grand opening. The view is of Saint Helens Avenue, just beyond the Bostwick Block (755-71 Saint Helens), the triangular shaped building next to the Winthrop. Visible businesses included the Montelius Music House (736 Saint Helens), the Gilliam & Steven Motor Co. (735 Saint Helens -street renamed Court C), and the Caswell Optical Co.(752-66 Saint Helens), on the far left edge. In the distance at the far left is Central School. G8.1-013

Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1930; Commercial streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Central School (Tacoma); Montelius Music House (Tacoma); Gilliam & Steven Motor Co. (Tacoma); Caswell Optical Co. (Tacoma);

This view of South 9th Street looking west from the corner of Broadway and Saint Helens was taken on May 15, 1925 from the top of the Winthrop Hotel. At the bottom left is a part of the old Tacoma Theater. The ornate white building on the same side of 9th is the Rialto Theater, 310 So. 9th. Up the street is the First Baptist Church at 902 Market Street with its bell tower still under construction. On the north side of 9th is the Caswell Optical building, 752-66 St. Helens, in the foreground, followed by the white Exley Apartments at 309 So. 9th, originally the oldest existing house in Tacoma and later converted into apartments. The taller Rhodes Apartments, 311 So. 9th (now the Rialto Apartments), are next. Rising in the background are the Gothic towers of the Pierce County Courthouse, left, and the Central School building, right. G57.1-101

Business districts--Tacoma--1920-1940; Tacoma Theatre (Tacoma); Rialto Theatre (Tacoma); First Baptist Church (Tacoma); Caswell Optical Co. (Tacoma); Exley Apartments (Tacoma); Rhodes Apartments (Tacoma); Rialto Apartments (Tacoma);

Over 300 telephones scheduled to be installed at the new Hotel Winthrop posed around the two person switchboard. A desk telephone will stand on a table in each guest room. The Winthrop is the first hotel in Tacoma to have this type of instrument furnished throughout. The installation will require over 71 miles of lines, running through a 2 ft x 4 ft shaft extending perpendicularly from the basement to the private branch switchboard on the roof garden floor. These phones will bring the total number of phones in Tacoma to over 23,000. TPL-460 (TNT 5/16/1925, pg 3) print filed under A 1003

Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma); Telephones--1920-1930; Telephone switchboards;

Genevieve Brophy (left) and Anna Fuchs, employees of the main central office of the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., sit at the new Hotel Winthrop switchboard surrounded by 300 desk telephones. After the telephones and switchboard were installed, the Hotel Winthrop became the first Tacoma hotel to have a telephone in every room. The switchboard was located on the roof garden floor of the hotel in a private room set apart from public view. It was staffed by four young women and chief operator Mrs. Johanna Hicks, who maintained the hotel's service 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (TNT 5/16/1925, pg 3) negative A1001-0, TPL-9971

Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma); Telephones--1920-1930; Telephone switchboards; Brophy, Genevieve; Fuchs, Anna;

Genevieve Brophy (left) and Anna Fuchs, employees of the main central office of the Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co., show off the new switchboard at the Hotel Winthrop. They are surrounded by a few of the 300 telephones being installed at the Winthrop. When the installation was complete, the Winthrop became the first Tacoma hotel to have a telephone in every room. The switchboard was located on the roof garden floor of the hotel in a private room set apart from public view. (TNT 5/16/1925, pg 3) (WSHS, also Argentum)

Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma); Telephones--1920-1930; Telephone switchboards; Brophy, Genevieve; Fuchs, Anna;

When the Tacoma "suburb" of Regents Park was designed in 1907, a manmade spring-fed lake, aptly named Spring Lake, was at its center. By 1925, just prior to when the area incorporated as Fircrest, the lake area was showing signs of neglect. This large crew of Regents Park residents called a work day on May 17, 1925 to clean up and rehabilitate the area. Included in the picture are: Earl Libby, Norma Pickering, Mrs. Ernie Fox, Jack Pickering, Ernie Fox, Oscar Ellison, Joe Baker, Owen Ellison, H.D. Baker, Bob Rasmussen, Dr. Caswell, Ernie and Harold White, Robert Freeman, Grady Hume, Bruce Hume, a Mr. Glen, John and Bob Van De Mark, Lewis Ellison, Mayor Woodkirk, Bill Brock, Irene Edwards and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Boyd. The volunteers would clean the lake's bed and landscape the area. The lake was drained of water and all mud removed from the gravel bottom before refilled. The large cement block in this photograph's background was used as a base for one of the Fircrest Lions at the time of early development. Eventually, the lake dried up and its location is now the site of Fircrest Park. (TNT 5/18/1925, pg. 5) ("Of Lions and Dreams, Of Men and Realities," Osness, pg. 110) G72.1-109

Real estate development--Fircrest; Lakes & ponds--Fircrest; Urban beautification--Fircrest--1920-1930; Regents Park (Fircrest);

Regent Park residents of all ages pitched in and helped to spruce up the Spring Lake area of their community on May 17, 1925. New shrubs and flowers were planted and watered and vegetation trimmed. Regents Park and its 306 residents would incorporate as the Town of Fircrest in September of 1925. G72.1-117 (TNT 5-18-25, p. 5-article on beautification project)

Regents Park (Fircrest); Real estate development--Fircrest; Urban beautification--Fircrest--1920-1930;

The cornerstone of the new Epworth Methodist Church was laid in ceremonies held on Sunday, May 17, 1925. The church congregation and friends gathered at the site of the new church at 710 South Anderson; the old church is in the background. The cornerstone was donated by Robert Walker of Walker Cut Stone who had given cornerstones for all the churches erected in Tacoma in recent years. The finished $90,000 Epworth Methodist was dedicated a year later in May of 1926. G22.1-128 (TNT 5-16-25, p. 14-article; TNT 5-18-25, p. 4)

Epworth Methodist Church (Tacoma); Methodist churches--Tacoma--1920-1930; Cornerstone laying--Tacoma--1920-1930;

View of Hylebos Bridge on May 18, 1925. Standing on two planks above the Hylebos Waterway, a surveyor is himself framed in a plywood form. A pipe-smoking worker pauses in the process of nailing down plywood. Both may be unaware that they are being photographed. A single leaf bascule drawbridge, using 240,000 pounds of steel, and having an 80-foot horizontal clearance, would replace the old wooden drawbridge pictured above. Costing $80,000, it would open on October 15, 1925. It would be ordered closed just ten years later by the War Department due to insufficient clearance for waterborne traffic into the Port of Tacoma. Photograph is misdated "5-18-24;" it was actually taken on 5-18-25. Photograph ordered by Hart Construction Co. TPL-6512; G15.1-024 (NWR clipping file: TNT 11-3-25)

Bridges--Tacoma--1920-1930; Hylebos Bridge (Tacoma); Drawbridges--Tacoma--1920-1930;

Indian cemetery. This was the Puyallup Indian cemetery located next to the Cushman Veterans Hospital, 2002 E. 28th St, as pictured in May of 1925. Indians under the direction of H.C. Sicade of Fife had spent the month cleaning and renovating the old cemetery. They graded, sown grass seed, planted new shrubs, installed a 600-foot wire fence, repaired 300-feet of old fence, and erected 500 marble monuments. Henry Sicade had secured a $3000 appropriation from the U.S. government for the complete renovation and restoration of the cemetery. There were about 2000 graves but many had been obliterated. Among those buried there were Chief Salatat, Chief Thomas Stolyer, Chief Sitwell, Chief Tommy Lane and Chief Leschi. The low-lying white fences surround the tribal cemetery have since been replaced by high stone walls. The small church next door was a Presbyterian mission founded in 1881 and since rebuilt. The Cushman Veterans (later Tacoma Indian Hospital) Hospital has been demolished. TPL-8741; G5.1-021 (photograph has black marks) (TNT 5-19-25, p. 11)

Puyallup Indian Cemetery (Puyallup); Cemeteries--Puyallup; Indian reservations--Puyallup;

Boys, some in costume, are ready to participate in the bicycle "Safety First" parade on May 23, 1925. Many of the bicycles have their spokes decorated. One youngster near the right wears a clown costume while others prefer to simply decorate their two-wheelers. There were also girls among the several hundred childen participating. The parade would traverse downtown Tacoma streets from City Hall and end up in the Stadium (Bowl). Once at the Bowl, John Rodda, New York representative of Cycle Trades of America and arranger of the parade, lectured on the right and wrong way to ride bicycles and proper conduct on the roads while in traffic. Mr. Rodda was a proponent of bicycle safety. 50 prizes, including watches and medals, were awarded that day. (TNT 5-19-25, p 17-article; TNT 5-22-25, p. 24, TNT 5-23-25, p. 1) TPL-045; G66.1-008

Bicycles & tricycles--Tacoma--1920-1930; Cyclists--Tacoma; Parades & processions--Tacoma--1920-1930;

An unidentified man and Ruth McDowell, "Miss Winthrop," posed with a large key on May 26, 1925. Miss Winthrop, also known as the "Girl of the Mountain," was on hand to greet guests during the weeks following the hotel's Grand Opening on May 16, 1925. She was attired in a scarlet "mountain costume" and welcomed guests in the spirit of Mount Rainier. In the photograph she is dressed warmly in sturdy thick boots, wool hat, gloves and wrap. Hotel Winthrop manager Sam D. Atkisson is believed to be the man in the background, far right. Photograph ordered by Hotel Winthrop. G67.1-141 (TNT 5/16/1925, pg. 6)

Keys (Hardware); Celebrities; Hotel Winthrop (Tacoma); Hotels--Tacoma--1920-1930; McDowell, Ruth; Women--Clothing & dress--Tacoma--1920-1930;

In May of 1925, J.B. Ness posed with his new Overland Blue Bird touring car in front of his Ness Service Station No. 1, 3802 Pacific Ave. He recently purchased the auto from the Raudenbush Motor Co., Overland and Willys-Knight dealers, through their salesman W.A. Court. Mr. Court was pictured here beside an Overland coupe sedan. Mr. Ness tested the power of his new auto up the infamous South K St. hill climb from Center Street. Mr. Ness also operated a second service station at South 60th St. & Union Ave. (TDL 5/17/1925, pg. G-3)

Ness Service Station No. 1 (Tacoma); Automobile service stations--Tacoma--1920-1930; Overland automobile;

Gig Harbor-area chicken ranch. The C.M. Seely poultry and cattle ranch was located in Glen Cove, on the west shore of Carr Inlet. This view of the property was taken in late May of 1925, when a group consisting of representatives of Tacoma's social and business clubs had formed a caravan to check out routes of proposed roads connecting Tacoma to the Hood Canal area. The Seely chicken ranch was one of the stops during the day-long excursion. (TDL 6-9-25, G-1)

Chicken industry; Cattle ranches;

In late May of 1925, a caravan of interested Tacomans spent a day at Rocky Bay on the Peninsula going over the routes of proposed roads to connect Tacoma with the Hood Canal, shortening the current distance by 30 miles. The photograph shows the first stop, the home farm of Edwin Dewey (E.D.) Nichols at the junction of the Vaughn-Longbranch-Gig Harbor Road, near Glen Cove. The Tacoma caravan is shown after its arrival. It was made up of representatives of Tacoma's various business and social clubs, headed by County Commissioner Frederick Shaw. The group was met by Mason County Commissioners who assured the group that the 17 miles of graveled roads and 3 miles of paved roads between Gig Harbor and the Hood Canal would be under construction within the month. The roads would connect some areas such as Victor, formerly completely shut off, with other Peninsula towns and eventually Tacoma. (TDL 6/7/1925, pg. G-1) TPL-2543; G72.1-164

Nichols, Edwin Dewey--Homes & haunts; Caravans;

Built of Wilkeson sandstone donated by Robert Walker, the First Baptist Church was nearly ready for its dedication set for June of 1925. Designed by architects Heath, Gove & Bell and built by J.E. Bonnell, contractor, the huge church cost about $250,000. The fencing around the church would be removed by Sunday, June 7th. First Baptist's congregation chose to remain in the downtown area so built on a vacant lot adjoining its old site. "We aim to make this a great friendly downtown church for everybody," said pastor C.O. Johnson. In just a few years First Baptist grew to become one of the largest churches on the West Coast. The years 1924-25 saw perhaps a record in church construction in Tacoma with the First Baptist Church, Sixth Avenue Baptist, First Presbyterian, St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, and Fern Hill Baptist among those built. First Baptist is now called Urban Grace, the Downtown Church. BU11,472 (TNT 6-4-25, p. 11)

First Baptist Church (Tacoma); Baptist churches--Tacoma; Building construction--Tacoma--1920-1930;

Exterior view of the ivy-covered Tacoma Country & Golf Club. The Tacoma Country & Golf Club, established in 1894 by Alexander Baillie, is the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi. The clubhouse, as viewed in early June of 1925 prior to the Pacific Northwest open championship, had been completely rebuilt due to a fire in 1909. The new clubhouse, later known as the "Grand Old Lady," included a gracious spiral staircase . It, too, would suffer the same fate as its predecessor - destruction by fire in 1961. A third clubhouse would be completed in 1964. TPL-6261; G54.1-039

Tacoma Country & Golf Club (Tacoma)--Buildings; Tacoma Country & Golf Club (Tacoma)--1920-1930;

Pacific Tel & Tel Co. at 1101 Fawcett Ave., interior. A long row of women are seated before their switchboards in this June of 1925 photograph while the women standing behind them are perhaps giving instruction. Telephone operators for decades were primarily women. (scan from negative, no print on file) TPL-10529

Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. (Tacoma)--Employees; Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Co. (Tacoma); Telephone operators--Tacoma--1920-1930; Telephone companies--Tacoma--1920-1930;

13 National Park buses parked compactly inside Stadium Bowl in June of 1925, just in time for the 26th opening season of Mount Tacoma and Rainier National Park. Each vehicle had four rows of seats where passengers could get plenty of fresh air and unrestricted views of The Mountain. The park buses were equipped with General Tires. Photograph ordered by General Tires. TPL-6199; G70.1-130

Buses--Tacoma--1920-1930; Stadium Bowl (Tacoma);

Feathers went flying as these five unidentified workers from the Washington Cooperative Egg & Poultry Association plucked chickens on June 10, 1925, at their poultry dressing plant. The dressed out birds hang upside down on racks attached to a wall. The plant had a capacity of 1200 birds daily. TPL-559; G6.1-088

Chicken industry--Tacoma--1920-1930; Chickens;

On June 10, 1925, the feeding station at the Washington Cooperative Egg & Poultry Association was able to accomodate 10,000 short term boarders. The chickens were kept for 10 days, during which they were fed a scientific diet to increase their weight and improve the color and quality of their meat. They were then slaughtered and sent to market. The Co-op had been organized in 1917, but really took off when a small warehouse was opened in August of 1920 at 25th and Pacific Ave. with R.E. Darling as manager. The Co-op started with 76 members; by 1925 there were over 700 in the ranks. Washington had become the top producer of eggs, with 40 million shipped in 1925; and Tacoma was the top station in Washington. The co-op's poultry business grew from the dilemma of extra roosters and the feed business grew from the poultry business. (TNT 11/20/1925, pg. 1) G6.1-084

Washington Co-op Egg & Poultry Association (Tacoma); Chickens; Chicken industry--Tacoma--1920-1930;

A 25-ton reel of specially constructed flexible steel cable is hoisted by a heavy Hart Construction Co. derrick from the freighter "J L Luckenbach" at the Port of Tacoma pier on June 13, 1925. The reel was too heavy to be handled by the Luckenbach's tackle. Valued at $4,850, the cable will be used as cable line by the Tacoma Railway & Power Co. It has a length of about 3 1/2 miles. G50.1-007 (TNT 6-12-25, p. 21-article; TNT 6-13-25, p. 14)

Hoisting machinery; Cargo ships--1920-1930; Piers & wharves--Tacoma--1920-1930; Port of Tacoma (Tacoma);

This 1925 motorcycle rider is prepared for at least several overnight stays as his Indian bike is packed with a sleeping bag tied to the front wheel, leather saddle bag and other bundles on the rear. Knee-high leather boots and leather gauntlets provide protection against the elements; the man's jaunty cap and traveling suit complete his wardrobe. The bike's license plate #1907 is attached on the front fender support. Dash Point can be seen dimly in the background. Photograph ordered by the Hewitt Cycle Co. G66.1-151

Motorcycles--Tacoma--1920-1930; Men--Clothing & dress--1920-1930;

The intersection of South 12th & Fife St. was photographed on June 15, 1925, on behalf of the Tacoma Railway & Power Co. for their case #870, Day vs. TR&P. Streetcar tracks run down the center of the road and there is very little traffic. The West End Garage, 2524 South 12th, is on the right; F.W. Bozelle's grocery store is on the left. G57.2-001

Streets--Tacoma--1920-1930; Street railroad tracks--Tacoma--1920-1930; West End Garage (Tacoma); Grocery stores--Tacoma--1920-1930;

The leading golfers of the Pacific Coast gathered in Tacoma for the Pacific Northwest Golf Association open event, which kicked off the morning of June 19, 1925 at the Tacoma Country and Golf Club links. Harold Sampson, of Burlingame Club in California, was photographed prior to being recalled by his organization as a result of the rejection of the entry of fellow club member Abe Espinosa. (TNT 6/19/1925, pg. 1) (WSHS)

Golfers--1920-1930; Golfers--Clothing & dress--1920-1930; Sampson, Harold; Tacoma Country & Golf Club (Tacoma)--1920-1930; Golf--Tacoma--1920-1930;