Old City Hall is one of the most prominent structures in Tacoma, but for the last decade it’s been little more than a curious ornament on the city’s skyline. Before the city bought the building, it had fallen into disrepair after a failed attempt at converting it to condos. Throughout the building, remnants of past…
Read More
Sorry to make your hanging basket and brunch date look bad, but the bar for great Mother’s Day gifts in Tacoma was set pretty damn high decades ago. Here we take a look at snapshots of what Mother’s Day has been like in Tacoma history, including one son who took a big plunge to impress…
Read More
Tacoma has museums, photo archives at the library, and many websites dedicated to preserving its history. However, a truly invaluable way of learning about the history of a city you love is talking to someone who actually lived it. One such person in Tacoma is Bob Piatt. Bob is a charming 81 year old man…
Read More
On South 11th and Yakima sits a building where Prince Olav of Norway, President Taft, President Truman, President Wilson, and Orson Welles have all paid a visit. A building that holds over 100 years of monumental history, it once held home and garden exhibitions, boxing matches, car shows, and rock concerts. It was also home…
Read More
The way Easter is celebrated changes a little from place to place and from year to year. We took a look at the image archives at the Tacoma Public Library to see how things have changed through the years here in Tacoma. In the 1940s Brown & Haley touted their Almond Roca as the…
Read More
Sitting a block down from one of Tacoma’s busiest intersections at Sprague and 7th Ave. sits a 105 year old building that, for the last decade, has sat vacant and largely ignored by passersby. Given its prominence and ideal location, it’s hard to believe it’s sat empty for so long. Once you get a look…
Read More
Spin the dial back on what Saint Patrick’s Day has been like in Tacoma history and you’re as likely to find a triumph as a tragedy. Here we take a look at bits of our past, ranging from the start of a tradition to an old-ass cat with no fucks left to give. March 17,…
Read More
The term “hidden gem” gets thrown around a lot but Salmon Beach really exemplifies it in every way. It’s one of the most wonderful parts of Tacoma and it’s about as hidden as you can get while still being in the city. “It feels like you’re living in Tacoma while not really being in Tacoma,”…
Read More
Here’s the backstory: People talk a lot about busted roads in Tacoma but this 500 foot strip of awful is literally more patch than road at this point. The potholes are so deep you can actually damage your chassis if you don’t navigate them properly. Its infamy is so widespread that, in years past, whenever there was a paving project elsewhere in the city that ended up with surplus asphalt, the crews would bring the extras here to dump into the potholes.
Read More
In 2009 rumors began to circulate that Never Never Land’s statues were being stored in a secret underground location. Three years later Sharon Styer, a Tacoma resident who’d seen the storybook characters just before they all disappeared from Point Defiance, jumped at the chance to take a one-time-only tour beneath downtown. She took her camera…
Read More
Tacoma may not be Nashville or Detroit, but it’s got its fair share of music history. The argument could be made, in fact, that the Grit City is the figurative birthplace of garage rock, and it’s inarguably the literal birthplace of one of America’s most beloved music celebrities. From the early days of booster songs…
Read More
Say the words “Steve’s Gay ’90s” and you’re sure to confuse anyone new to Tacoma or born in the 1980s and beyond. For those in either group, we’re talking about a restaurant that used to rock South Tacoma Way — and the 1890s. Thanks to photos and news articles tucked safely away in Tacoma Public…
Read More