On August 30, 1926, Miss Tacoma, Dorothy Rothermel, boarded the Oriental Limited at Union Station for Atlantic City. She was Tacoma's first entry in the fledgling Miss America contest. In 1926 the Miss America contest was not limited to one contestant from each state. Miss Rothermel was accompanied by her official chaperone Mrs. Bernice E. Newell. She stopped for three days in Philadelphia as guest of the John B. Stetson Hat Company. On September 7th, she boarded the "American Beauty Special" with the other seventy plus contestants for Atlantic City. Although Miss Rothermel did not win the Miss America crown for 1926, which went to Miss Tulsa, she was awarded third place in the Western division. She also left a lot of people wondering "Where the heck is Tacoma?" Dorothy May Rothermel would marry Gareld Bentley Banta six months after competing in the Miss America pageant. (TNT 8/30/1926, pg. 2; 8/31/26, pg. 1) G44.1-098 (Additional information provided by a reader)
In August of 1926, Killian Van R. Schermerhorn, standing, and Wilmot McCune spent a week rowing 80 nautical miles from Point Defiance to Olympia and back. The Stadium High School juniors travelled in a double-oared "clinker" that they rented from the park's boathouse. They rowed in sunshine, moonlight and even a storm that landed them on McNeil Island. Once they convinced the guards that they were not part of a prison break, they were treated royally. Throughout the trip, the boys stayed close to shore or rowed from island to island, camping as they tired. (TNT 9/3/1926, pg. 1) BGN-053
In August of 1926 Killian Van R. Schermerhorn, in boat, and Wilmot McCune, on log, spent a week rowing 80 nautical miles from Point Defiance to Olympia and back in a double oared "clinker" they rented from the Park's boathouse. They stayed close to shore or hopped from island to island, camping when they needed rest. They even rowed in a storm, that capsized them on McNeil Island. After convincing the prison guards that they were not trying to "break anyone out," the guards fed, clothed and housed them until the storm was over. (TNT 9/3/1926, pg. 1) TPL-588 , BGN-054
Shown at the rear of their two-ton White truck with attached 800-gallon tank are Thompson Lubricating Co.'s owners, H.E. Thompson (left) and his father H.A. Thompson, on August 31, 1926. The delivery truck was built 18 months ago for the firm and purchased from the J.F. Hickey Motor Co., the second White owned by the Thompsons. The company used Red Hat Gasoline for its customers and a retouched photograph of this gasoline truck with heavy use of emblems was used for national advertising. In 1926, Thompson Lubricating had four service stations in Tacoma. G35.1-043 (T.Times, 9-4-26, p. 10)
Parked outside the Colonial Hotel, 701-05 Commerce St., on August 31, 1926, were a Tacoma motorcycle policeman and a very small open top automobile with its driver squeezed in. Several Tacoma police officers were included in the photograph. The minute car was being used to advertise the impending arrival of the silent film, "The Wise Guy," starring Mary Astor and James Kirkwood. The name of the film was prominently displayed on the hood of the automobile. G42.1-014; TPL-3553.
Tacoma Police Department (Tacoma); Police--Tacoma--1920-1930; Motorcycles--Tacoma--1920-1930; Signs (Notices); Colonial Hotel (Tacoma); Automobiles--Tacoma--1920-1930;
Chester and Anna Thorne's estate, "Thornewood," on Gravelly Lake. Tudor Gothic house by Kirtland K. Cutter, Cutter and Malmgen, Architects, 1910; Landscape Architects, the Olmsted Brothers. (filed with Argentum)
Unidentified baseball team, circa 1926, posed in front of the stands of Athletic Park. The man to the right is wearing a uniform, knee high boots, and an insignia with the letters "KC" on his sleeve. Their shirts have the letters S, V. (WSHS)
Athletic Park (Tacoma); Baseball--1920-1930; Athletic fields--Tacoma--1920-1930; Baseball players--1920-1930;
Basement heating and water heating equipment in unidentified location. Sign reads "Educate your Basement to take a place in Society with equipment like this." (WSHS)
This is a view of the Tahoma Apartments as pictured in September of 1926. The Tahoma Apartments were built in 1925 by F.F. Travis and A.I. Maltby, with Travis serving as architect and contractor. The eight story building, located at 117 Tacoma Avenue North, was built for approximately $250,000. Its tenants included the Radford School of Drama. In 1940, its name was changed to the Town House Apartments. It was taken over by the College of Puget Sound in 1956, which sold the building in 1970.
Chester and Anna Thorne estate, "Thornewood", on Gravelly Lake. Tudor Gothic house by Kirtland K. Cutter, Cutter and Malmgen, Architects, 1910; Landscape Architects, the Olmsted Brothers. The home had 40 rooms, 18 bathrooms and nine marble fireplaces. The home is now the Thornewood Castle Bed and Breakfast. (filed with Argentum)
Chester and Anna Thorne estate, "Thornewood", on Gravelly Lake. Tudor Gothic house by Kirtland K. Cutter, Cutter and Malmgen, Architects, 1910; Landscape Architects, the Olmsted Brothers. (filed with Argentum)
Interior of the sunroom at the Weyerhaeuser mansion. The home that John Philip Weyerhaeuser built for his wife Anna at 4301 No. Stevens was completed in 1922. It was designed by Meade & Hamilton of Cleveland. The Weyerhaeusers called it "Haddaway Hall," in honor of the fact that in matters concerning the house, Mrs. Weyerhaeuser always "Had her way." (WSHS)
Haddaway Hall (Tacoma); Weyerhaeuser, John Philip Weyerhaeuser--Homes & haunts; Sunspaces;
Front view of Annie Wright Seminary from across Tacoma Ave. No. looking north east. The private school, designed by the architectural firm of Sutton, Whitney and Dugan, opened at this location in September of 1924. TPL-7084
International Rally of the I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows), Tacoma, September 4-6, 1926. The rally was a convention for the 300 Odd Fellow & Rebekah lodges in Washington and British Columbia. The East Tacoma Rebekah Lodge float was photographed on the 700 block of Commerce Street. Corner of Colonial Hotel, Tacoma Electrotype Company, Washington Florists truck, Gansen Electric Company, C.A. Beil office. (filed with Argentum)
Independent Order of Odd Fellows (Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1920-1930; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1920-1930; East Tacoma Rebekah Lodge (Tacoma);
Leo W. Kachlein residence, interior, in September of 1926. Foyer with three arches, iron gates, tile floor. The Mediterranean-style home was built in 1925 for the Kachlein family. Photographs ordered by Western Iron and Wire Company. The home is located in the historic Stadium/Seminary district. (filed with Argentum)
Interior shot of the residence of the Leo W. Kachlein family. The Mediterranean style home at 620 No. E St. was built in 1925. The photo is of a large fireplace flanked by picture windows. (WSHS)
Chester and Anna Thorne estate, "Thornewood", on Gravelly Lake. Tudor Gothic house by Kirtland K. Cutter, Cutter and Malmgen, Architects, 1910; Landscape Architects, the Olmsted Brothers. Grounds. (Filed with Argentum)
Chester and Anna Thorne Residence, "Thornewood", at Gravelly Lake. Tudor Gothic house by Kirtland K. Cutter, Cutter and Malmgen, Architects, 1910; Landscape Architects, the Olmsted Brothers. The camera captures a view of the lily pond, one example of the use of "Garden rooms." In 1930, Thornewood was declared to have "the most beautiful formal gardens" in the country. (filed with Argentum)
View of back of Annie Wright Seminary taken from around No. 6th and Tacoma Ave. No. Two of the courts at the Tacoma Lawn Tennis Club are in the foreground of the photograph. TPL-7085
Close-up of burnt timber at the Mineral Lake Logging Co.'s Camp 17. Photographer Boland ventured out to the remote logging camp located in north central Lewis County on September 3, 1926, to document the damage that fire had caused to timberlands. Burned sections of cut timber are piled haphazardly on the ground, obscuring many tree stumps.
Mineral Lake Logging Co. Camp 17; Fires; Tree stumps; Logs; Lumber industry--Washington--1920-1930;
This burned railroad bridge was located near Mineral Lake Logging Co.'s Camp 17 in 1926. The area had suffered fire damage which included part of this railroad bridge constructed out of logs. The bridge curved around a gulch.
Mineral Lake Logging Co. Camp 17; Logging industry--Washington--1920-1930; Fires; Logs; Railroad bridges--Washington--1920-1930;
This is a view of the devastation caused by fire racing through timbered lands near the Mineral Lake Logging Co. Camp 17 in Lewis County in late summer of 1926. Trees are tossed about like matchsticks and the railroad bridge pictured above may also have been damaged by flames.
Mineral Lake Logging Co. Camp 17; Fires; Lumber industry--Washington--1920-1930;
George H. Jensen, owner of the Tacoma Silver Fox Farm, was photographed in September of 1926 holding a fox. The fox breeding farm, located south of Tacoma, was one of the leaders in the nation in the propagation of fur foxes. In January of 1927, they shipped out 82 foxes to a new farm, Sunflower Fox Farm in Topeka, KS. This was the largest order for foxes ever undertaken in the west and one of the largest ever placed in the history of fox breeding. The foxes netted $39,500, with prices ranging as high as $1,000 for a single fox. TPL-7081 (TNT 1/101927, pg. 9)
Tacoma Silver Fox Farm (Tacoma); Foxes--Tacoma--1920-1930; Fur trade--Tacoma--1920-1930; Jensen, George H.;
This is part of the damage resulting from a fire near the Mineral Lake Logging Co. Camp 17 in 1926. It looks like there was a significant loss of timber, including the blackened logs above. Not shown is a company railroad bridge made of logs which was partially destroyed in the fire.
Mineral Lake Logging Co. Camp 17; Lumber industry--Washington--1920-1930; Logs; Fires;
Fire damage at Mineral Lake Logging Co. Camp 17 as viewed on September 3, 1926. In the right foreground are scorched tree stumps. G75.1-086 (photograph is marked B15570; however, correct image # should be B15569, per photographer Boland's notes.)
Mineral Lake Logging Co. Camp 17; Fires; Tree stumps; Logs; Lumber industry--Washington--1920-1930;
Photograph taken for Mineral Lake Logging Co. of clear-cut hill with railroad bridge across gulch made from two large, straight trees. The Mineral Lake Logging Co. was in Ashford, WA. TPL-7082
Cutover lands--Washington--1920-1930; Lumber industry--Washington--1920-1930; Railroad bridges--Washington--1920-1930; Mineral Lake Logging Co. (Ashford);
Copy of a photograph of the main meeting hall inside Knights of Pythian Temple, 924-26 Broadway, Tacoma. The photograph was pinned crooked on a board and then photographed. The hall is officially known as the Castle Hall of the Commencement Lodge #7. It was built in 1906-07 and has been carefully preserved. The structure is on the city and national historical directories. It has mahogany walls and murals depicting the friendship of Damon and Pythias, on whom the beliefs of the order are placed. TPL-7083, BU-12219
International Rally of I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows), Tacoma, Washington, September 4-6, 1926.The biggest event was a parade through downtown Tacoma with over 2,000 participants on September 4, 1926. The South Tacoma Lodge No. 89 float is bearing signs, "The God of Nations is the Father of All Men" and "All Men Are Brothers". Lefebvre Auto Laundry in background. (filed with Argentum)
Fraternal organizations--Tacoma; Clubs--Tacoma; Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Lodge No. 89 (Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1920-1930; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1920-1930;
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) held their seventh annual International Rally in Tacoma on September 4-6, 1926. The largest event of the rally was a parade with over 2,000 participants through the downtown business district that concluded at the Odd Fellows temple at Sixth & Fawcett. The Fern Hill Rebekah Lodge created a float for the parade on the back of a John Dower Lumber Company flatbed truck. The float was photographed in front of the Gansen Electric Company and C.A. Beil, General Contractors, offices at 709-13 Commerce St. The Rebekahs were the affiliated fraternal order of the Odd Fellows as well as a service organization. (TDL 9/4/26, pg. 3-article; 9/5/26, pg. 4-A-article) (filed in Argentum.)
Independent Order of Odd Fellows (Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1920-1930; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1920-1930; Fern Hill Rebekah Lodge (Tacoma);
International Rally of I.O.O.F. (Independent Order of Odd Fellows), Tacoma, Washington, September 4-6, 1926. Representatives from 300 lodges in Washington and British Columbia gathered in Tacoma for the 7th annual gathering of encampments. The kick off was a parade on Sept. 4, 1926 with over 2,000 participants. The parade formed at 7th & Commerce. Pictured is a parade float with a banner reading "Both Old And Young Are Protected By The I.O.O.F. Home in Walla Walla, WA." in front of the Colonial Hotel at South 7th and Commerce. The Washington Odd Fellow home was established in 1897 in Walla Walla. It provided care for the widows and orphans of members of the fraternal organization. (TDL 9/4/1926, pg. 3; 9/5/26, pg. 4-A) (filed under Argentum)
Fraternal organizations--Tacoma; Clubs--Tacoma; Independent Order of Odd Fellows (Tacoma); Parades & processions--Tacoma--1920-1930; Floats (Parades)--Tacoma--1920-1930;
