ca. 1893. The table is set at The Chilberg, 1011-13 Pacific Ave., circa 1893; it is laid with a fine white tablecloth, set with damask napkins and heavy silver. Proprietor Isaac Chilberg awaits off camera for the arrival of his guests. The successful restaurateur had started with a chop house at 1003 Pacific Ave. and made his reputation on good food, a spotless dining room and kitchen and personalized service. In May of 1892, he moved his restaurant into the refurbished and more elegantly appointed space at 1011-13 Pacific Ave., formerly the home of the New York Kitchen. The Chilberg soon became known as the "Delmonico of the West," the finest restaurant west of New York City. (Photograph damaged)

Chilberg (Tacoma); Restaurants--Tacoma--1890-1900; Table settings & decorations; Tablecloths; Tableware;

ca. 1893. Dining room of The Chilberg, 1011-13 Pacific Ave., circa 1893. The Chilberg, Tacoma's finest restaurant, had moved in 1892 from its previous location at 1003 Pacific Ave. to these more spacious and elegant surroundings. The restaurant offered both open tables and rows of intimate dining boxes on the left and, seen from the back, on the right. These miniature dining rooms were for the use of ladies dining without male companionship or for those needing a quieter or more private dining experience. Large windows in the back and also "light wells" in the ceiling provided natural lighting. Tacoma architect C.A. Darmer redesigned the space specifically for proprietor Isaac Chilberg's restaurant and hotel. The restaurant was famous for its fare, but also for its orderly cleanliness and attentive service. Isaac Chilberg spent over 35 years in the restaurant business, running some of the finest restaurants in Tacoma. He died in 1923 at his home in Orting.

Chilberg (Tacoma); Restaurants--Tacoma--1890-1900;

ca. 1893. The main entrance at The Chilberg, 1011-13 Pacific Ave., circa 1893. Natural light floods the room from the many windows at the entrance. A table, right, holds a selection of fruit and pastries, while the bar behind displays an array of wines and glasses. The Chilberg had previously been located down the block at 1003 Pacific Ave. This space was redesigned by Tacoma architect C.A. Darmer for proprietor Isaac Chilberg. The restaurant was located on the first floor, with hotel rooms located above. The restaurant was endorsed as the most elegant restaurant west of New York City.

Chilberg (Tacoma); Restaurants--Tacoma--1890-1900;

ca. 1893. Tacoma Public Library on 5th floor of Old City Hall. The three statues in the large room were purchased by City Librarian William Curtis Taylor and donated to the library. Mr. Taylor had decorated the library with several busts and frames paid for by himself. The library had previously been located in the Ball Block, 919-21 Broadway, before its move to Old City Hall, 625 Commerce St., in 1893. Mr. Taylor had been the librarian since 1892 and was appointed by Mayor Huson as City Librarian in 1894 when the library came under the control of the City of Tacoma. (Tacoma Daily Ledger, 4-22-1896-article)

Tacoma Public Library (Tacoma); Public libraries--Tacoma--1890-1900; Old City Hall (Tacoma); Statues--Tacoma--1890-1900;

ca. 1893. A juxaposition of old and new is visible along the 1100 block of Pacific Avenue circa 1893. A horse-and-buggy is waiting patiently at the curb while the Sixth Avenue-Glendale electric streetcar motors on by. Passengers aboard the streetcar could sit in the doorless front section, absorbing much fresh air, or ride in the enclosed rear portion. On the left side of the photograph is the large California Building, 1110-16 Pacific Avenue, and the recently completed (Old) City Hall at 625 Commerce St., is at the end of the street (rear). (copy of original) Bi-Centennial Project # 75346-64

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1890-1900; Street railroads--Tacoma--1890-1900; Mass transit--Tacoma--1890-1900; Carriages & coaches--Tacoma--1890-1900; California Building (Tacoma); Old City Hall (Tacoma);

ca. 1893. North End developer and Tacoma promoter Allen C. Mason built his own mansion at 4301 No. Stevens St. in 1892. Designed by architects Hatherton & McIntosh, the palatial home was constructed of all Washington State materials. Mason was forced to give up the house during the financial panic of the mid-1890s. The house served as the main Whitworth College building from 1899 to 1912. It was demolished in 1920 to make way for the Weyerhaeuser Mansion, now occupied by the Northwest Baptist Seminary. TPL-6364

Houses--Tacoma--1890-1900; Mason, Allen C.--Homes & haunts;

ca. 1893. Located at 2903 Sixth Avenue in the mid-1890's was a grocery store owned & operated by Charles H. Grinnell and James W. Miller. The two-story wood framed building faced Sixth Avenue with parking for delivery carts and customers on North Pine. The 1895 City Directory indicated that the store sold groceries, hay, grain and feed. The next year the store's contents had expanded to include flour, tea, coffee, spices and produce. Charles Grinnell was born in Minnesota in October of 1862. He is shown clutching the hand of his little girl, Ethel, while standing outside his business establishment. His partner, James Miller, is the man on the farthest left. Mr. Miller, born in Ohio in May of 1851, also resided in Tacoma with his wife and three sons. One of the boys, "Willie," has his arm extended to possibly hold the reins of a horse-drawn cart. By the time of 1897-98 City Directory, only James Miller's name was listed as proprietor; Mr. Grinnell was the deputy chief state grain inspector. (photograph has been written on)

Grocery stores--Tacoma--1890-1900; Grinnell, Charles H.; Miller, James W.; Grinnell, Ethel A.; Miller, William E.; Carts & wagons--Tacoma--1890-1900; Horses--Tacoma--1890-1900;

ca. 1893. Tacoma smelter. This photograph of the Tacoma Smelting & Refining Co. (previously named the Ryan Smelter) was taken for the New England Magazine and published in their February, 1893, issue. The smelter was owned by prominent businessman William R. Rust who had purchased it four years before. The smelter was originally built to produce lead but in a few short years, would become a major supplier of copper. A comparison of an earlier view of the smelter, taken circa 1888, now shows a completed pier on the right and an additional large building on the property. In 1905 the American Smelting & Refining Co. (ASARCO) bought the company and it remained an important part of Tacoma's economy until its closure in 1985. (New England Magazine - February, 1893 p.800) (Scan of original print - no negative or print on file)

American Smelting & Refining Co. (Tacoma); Smelters--Tacoma; Industrial facilities--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;

ca. 1893. An early streetcar, #27 operated by the Tacoma Railway and Motor Co., was photographed around 1893 posed next to a treeless Wright Park. The car was part of the 6th Ave. streetcar line which ended in Glendale. Glendale was a residential development located near 6th & Proctor. Tacoma was booming; and as residential areas were developed far from the city core, available transportation was a major selling point. Several small streetcar lines were started, but by 1898 all of the smaller lines were bankrupt. By 1899, they were consolidated into the Tacoma Railway and Power Co. Wright Park was born when twenty acres of land were generously donated by Charles Wright to the city of Tacoma in 1886 for the purpose of creating an intercity park. The land was cleared of trees and undergrowth as the park was being designed. Later 350 trees were planted in the park. TPL-9714

Tacoma Railway & Motor Co. (Tacoma); Wright Park (Tacoma); Mass transit--Tacoma--1890-1900; Street railroads--Tacoma--1890-1900;

Adlai E. Stevenson, the 23rd Vice president of the United States, paid an overnight visit to Tacoma on July 26, 1893, arriving from Portland by train. A Democrat, Stevenson served under Grover Cleveland, and teamed up with William Jennings Bryan in 1900 in an unsuccessful run for president. A parade in his honor in downtown Tacoma included the police harmony band and Puyallup Indian band, police and fire departments, civic groups and representatives of the G.A.R., as the vice-president was also a member. Vice-President Stevenson was formally welcomed to the city by acting mayor John T. Lee, president of the Tacoma city council, and spoke to the crowd at the Tacoma Hotel. He was the grandfather of Adlai E. Stevenson II who would himself become the two-time Democratic nominee for the presidency in the 1950's. Photo from the collection of Roy Clark, Yelm, WA. Mr. Clark furnished the livery for the occasion. (TDL 7-26-93, p. 4, 7-27-93, p. 1) (Also G67.1-177)

Vice presidents--United States; Stevenson, Adlai Ewing--1835-1914; Carriages & coaches--Tacoma--1890-1900;

ca. 1894. The whaleback steamer "City of Everett" under construction in Everett, Washington, circa 1894. Her revolutionary design, reminiscent of both a cigar with tipped ends and the body of a whale (when fully loaded only the curved part of the hull was above water), was created by Alexander McDougall, a captain on the Great Lakes. He managed to bring forth a vessel that could carry heavy loads but also be fast, cutting through water with little resistance. His body of work totaled 40, 24 barges and 16 steamers, all whalebacks. The "City of Everett," which was launched in 1894 but not completed until 1895, was the only whaleback steamer built in Everett. She measured 346 feet long with a 42-foot beam. Truly a workhorse, she was in service for 29 years, including such memorable trips as sailing to India for famine relief, at which time she became the first American steamer to navigate the Suez Canal and continuing on to Spain, becoming the first American steamship to circumnavigate the world. The "City of Everett" had survived collisions at sea and a fire in port but on October 11, 1923, she went down with all hands during a storm in the Gulf of Mexico. The wreck was not found until September 10, 2010, in 400 feet of water about 150 miles due west of Naples, Florida. The whaleback steamship was nearly intact and appeared to have sunk stern first. (St. Petersburg Times, "Fishermen find big one that didn't get away: a steamship resting miles off Naples," 12-12-2010; Armitage, "Alexander McDougall and the Whaleboat," 6-8-2008)

Steamboats--Everett; Boat & ship industry--Everett;

ca. 1894. Business district of Tacoma (copy of original), circa 1894. Many of the streets surrounding Pacific Avenue in the 1890s, even then the heart of the city's financial district, were filled with a hodgepodge of wood framed buildings and more substantial brick structures. At the foreground are the Pioneer Paint Store, sellers of wallpaper, mouldings, paints, and glass and W.H. Robison's, where new and second hand goods could be purchased. The Freeman & Boggs livery stable, near left center, stood near the corner of 13th & Pacific. George A. Boggs, who was City Treasurer before going into private business, had been sent away to the state pen in Walla Walla after auditors found a $109,000 shortage in the city books. Also in the far right background is the steeple of the original St. Leo's Church near So. 11th & "D" St. S7.2, TPL-378 (Researched by Murray Morgan)

Commercial streets--Tacoma--1890-1900; Business districts--Tacoma--1890-1900; Freeman & Boggs Livery (Tacoma); Pioneer Paint Store (Tacoma); W.H. Robison (Tacoma);

ca. 1894. Edward S. Orr was elected mayor of Tacoma on April 3, 1894. Born in Pennsylvania in 1853, Mr. Orr came to Tacoma in 1888. He was engaged in real estate and mining, and had served one term on the city council before being elected mayor. He had defeated Mayor Herbert S. Huson for the Republican nomination and would triumph over Angelo V. Fawcett in the general election. Ed Orr would travel on to Alaska during the gold rush days where he became involved in that state's politics after his Tacoma political career had concluded. This picture was published in The Tacoma Herald, April 7, 1894 p.1 ALBUM 16. (History of Washington, the evergreen state from early dawn to daylight),

Orr, Edward S.; Mayors--Tacoma--1890-1900

On November 28, 1894 at 11:10 p.m., a landslide collapsed the Northern Pacific Railway Co.'s wharf, spilling the freight office, pump house and part of a warehouse into Commencement Bay. A few minutes later, at this site further north, a second slide occurred, carrying away part of the Ocean Dock. Observers near the Crescent Creamery, the white building on left located at approximately 100 Schuster Parkway, felt a jar followed by the crash of the warehouse as it broke up and fell into the water. The Crescent Creamery, constructed around 1890, was the first cold storage plant build on the Pacific Coast. (Hunt: "History of Tacoma Washington" vol. 2, pg. 170-171) G27.1-100

Landslides--Tacoma--1890-1900; Disasters--Tacoma--1890-1900; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

Late in the evening of November 28, 1894, a large landslide occurred in the waters of Commencement Bay carrying part of the Northern Pacific Railway Co.'s warehouse, its freight office, adjoining stockyards, the pump house and the home of H.H. Alger into the water. The night watchman and the Alger daughter lost their lives. In the daylight of the following day, observers came to see the previously inhabited land now covered with water. Although the Railway's freight office was found later floating near the southern tip of Maury Island, the company's safe, rumored to contain $10,000 in cash and $25,000 in securities, was never found. (Hunt: "History of Tacoma Washington" Vol. 2, pg. 170-171) G27.1-099, TPL-9550

Landslides--Tacoma--1890-1900; Disasters--Tacoma--1890-1900; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

At 11:10 in the evening of November 28, 1894, a landslide collapsed the Northern Pacific Railway's Dock, carrying the company's warehouse, freight office, pump house, and the home of H.H. Alger into the waters of Commencement Bay. Two lives were lost in the disaster. In the daylight of the following day, people flocked to see the area's devastation and the previously inhabited area now covered with water.When the land stopped sliding, it was estimated that the Bay now covered 20 acres of previously inhabited land with 60 feet of water. The slide was attributed to a washing out of quicksand beneath the filled-in earth. (Hunt: "History of Tacoma" vol. 2, pg. 170-171) see also Series G27.1 images 097, 099 and 100.

Landslides--Tacoma--1890-1900; Disasters--Tacoma--1890-1900; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

At 11:10 p.m. on November 28, 1894, a strip of land 250-300 yards long and 20-60 feet wide slid into Commencement Bay, carrying with it the home of H.H. Alger, 45 feet of the Northern Pacific Railway Co's Puget Sound warehouse, the company's freight office and the adjoining stockyards. The lack of light made rescue work difficult. Night watchman John Hanson and Emma, the 15 year old daughter of Alger, lost their lives. A second slide followed in a few minutes and another the next night. When the land stopped sliding, it was estimated that the Bay now covered 20 acres of previously inhabited land. Where the warehouses had stood, there was now 60 feet of water. The slide was attributed to a washing out of quicksand beneath the filled-in earth. (Hunt: "History of Tacoma" vol. 2, pg. 170-171) G27.1-098

Landslides--Tacoma--1890-1900; Disasters--Tacoma--1890-1900; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

At 11:10 p.m. on November 28, 1894, a strip of land 250-300 yards long and 20-60 feet wide slid into Commencement Bay, carrying with it the home of H.H. Alger, 45 feet of the Northern Pacific Railway Co's Puget Sound warehouse, the company's freight office and the adjoining stockyards. The lack of light made rescue work difficult. Night watchman John Hanson and Emma, the 15 year old daughter of Alger, lost their lives. A second slide followed in a few minutes and another the next night. When the land stopped sliding, it was estimated that the Bay now covered 20 acres of previously inhabited land. Where the warehouses had stood, there was now 60 feet of water. The slide was attributed to a washing out of quicksand beneath the filled-in earth. (Hunt: "History of Tacoma" vol. 2, pg. 170-171) G27.1-097

Landslides--Tacoma--1890-1900; Disasters--Tacoma--1890-1900; Northern Pacific Railway Co. (Tacoma);

ca. 1895. Copy of customer print. Commercial fishing scene from ca. 1895. Men in slickers and hats examine the day's catch still tangled in fishing nets. Photograph ordered by the Town of Steilacoom. TPL-9524

Fishing--Washington; Fishermen--1890-1900; Fishing nets--Washington;

ca. 1895. Four wooden houses, side-by-side, labeled "Club Houses Tacoma Golf Club." Small children, men and women pose in front and on porches of these nearly identically styled buildings. According to an entry in the History of Pierce County, Vol. 1, this was the initial club house of the Tacoma (Country &) Golf Club located on leased 280 acres of prairie land in Edison in the latter half of the 1890's. One of the buildings served as the club room, one as locker room for men, another as women's locker room, and the fourth as the caretaker's home. The club relocated to the eastern shores of American Lake in 1904. Copy of original photograph ordered by the Weyerhaueser Co. on November 23, 1965. (History of Pierce County, Vol. 1, p. 47-48)

Tacoma Country & Golf Club (Tacoma); Clubhouses--Tacoma--1890-1900;

ca. 1895. This is the Foss boathouse below the old 11th St. Bridge circa 1895 with the elegant Tacoma Hotel (at upper right) overlooking the City (now Thea Foss) Waterway. An array of rowboats, some with small children as oarsmen, are clustered on the waterway. A number of people are gathered on the boathouse with at least some of them believed to be members of the Foss family. The Foss boathouse was the first in Tacoma with folks renting rowboats from five to ten cents a day. From these humble beginnings sprang Foss Launch & Tug Co., one of the largest firms of its kind on the Pacific Coast. (copy of original) Bi-Centennial Project # 75346-48

Foss Launch & Tug Co. (Tacoma); Rowboats; Boathouses--Tacoma--1890-1900; Tacoma Hotel (Tacoma); City Waterway (Tacoma);

Tweedsdale. Four masted iron barque 'Tweedsdale', 1460 tons, under sail iron 4 mast barque, 1460 tons, ON76767, 244.4 x 37.4 x 22.6. Built 1877 (4) Barclay, Curle and Co. Glasgow. Owners: J&A Roxburgh, registered Glasgow, later Hatfield, Cameron and Co. Said to have been the first iron hulled sailing ship [and also the smallest ever built] rigged as a four mast barque. (State Library of South Australia, B 3456, PRG 1218/3 or OH 456/1, Digital Collections, South Australiana Collection, Photographs, A. D. Edwardes Collection, https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1373/18/43)

Sailing ships;