THE WEST SHORE.
January, 1883,
stock of this company wan taken as follows : by
the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, 51 per
cent., being a controlling interest, and by the
preferred stockholders of the railroad company in
Ihcir individual capacities, the remaining 49 per
wnl. Immediately following organization, the
Tacoma I-and Company bought of the railroad
company the 3,000 acres contracted lor hy Mr.
tiniiili ami in addition. I 1.000 acres of the odd
numbered sections within a radius of six miles of
the terminus, paying therefor the sum of $250,000
in cash. These purchases made the commission
ers make a change of headquarters from Tacoma
city, near the saw mill, to the present site, a short
f. t .t .11 .l i i r .1. . I
(lutance luriner souin ami near ine neau ui ine oay.
Here they encountered a virgin forest of large fir
trees, and by their order the work of clearing was
IK-L'im and continued until the trees ol a tract a
mile or more snuare were cut down. The town
was laid out, or planned, by Col. Isaac W. Smith,
civil cneinecr, and the railroad company erected
for Ukc as their headquarters, the large building on
the corner of Ninth and C streets, now occupied
as offices by Mr. Isaac V. Anderson, manager of
the Tacoma I-and Company
Many people had arrived, and were arriving
for location at the terminus, and many more were
on the way, when there occurred an event that
staggered all enterprise of building, commerce
and trade in this part of the country especially.
and that was the financial collapse of the company
in 1K73. This catastrophy, consequent upon the
failure of Jay Cooke, fell like a withering blow on
the terminus, among a thousand other interests
that had experience of that misfortune. Hut there
was vitality in the idea of the teiminus a vital
ity llmt was only suspended for a time, not extb
guUhed, and it actively responded to everv sulise.
quciil movement looking to the completion of the
raid. After the fust shock, deserted by thou.
saniU and remaining merely a hamlet of a few
huiiilicil people, 11 Marled forward m 8w ...,.
and iluigged wcaiily through years until the be
ginning of work on the IVnd d'Oreille division in
the winter of 1S70, f,om the Columbia river at the
mmilli of Snake Kiver, enstwnrd toward Idaho,
and m.lil the wirvejs of t,c Cnvadr range under
linn l.iigincrr la.ic V. Smith were lrgan
tlv rjilv imiiiir .f iliVn I'l .1 .
' 1 "en ine place liegan
lo advanre with energy and has not abated in the
rapidity of ,u gmw ,),, but ha, rather moved ahea.
, ' increase.! sjiecd. Tle census of
inai year showed a population of only 7,0, lut n
the two year, since then the x.pulalin has in
erased mote than 300 per rent, king now es..
mated at fully 3.000. , which must be added
consuln.ble numWr. arriving ,y ,vrry ,tfmn
turn San Fianrisc.s and this noteworthy circum-sl.m-e
should be ,uicd. th ,!, ,, N(.w
cm. is in the hear, of the g,P.,eSt ,Bmlwri '
region ot, he woild. ye, the supply f ,uml)er
name from the mountain, the company named
their future city after the most prominent object
the landscape about, calling it lacoma, wnicn
... . . J
the Indian name signifying tne snow-cappea
11 . , ' ' 1 1"7 lumoer
lurjil uw hi. r.. 1 1. -
. , "7 , , J been far
Mow the dunand. sonui,n .,
''-l-'cn. and reliable me . ,at ,mt for ,
more than we,e ,,uiIl (urim,
Wi-hinfull vie. f, he ,,
Commence ment bay and aUm, fifty . "
outbeaM. rise. .he ony ,0
he to,, f who highes, u " ,
bos, ,hc level 0 then. The, ,
" owa took iu
in
is
mountain.
Apart from history and treating of New Tacoma
as it appears to-day, we nno. 11 10 uc & v.guiuus
... . . ....
and rapidly growing city, lately incorporated,
sunerblv located and backed by resources, agricul
luml mrhinirnV commercial and corDOrate. to
an extent that may well excite the envy and fear
of all its competitors. No doubt but the influence
of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company is the
potent factor which will build up the leading city
of Puget sound, and that influence appears to be
thrown decisively in favor of its chosen terminus.
Admiralty inlet, a part of Puget sound, has a
general direction north and south. Commence
ment Bay is an off-shoot eastward from and a
part of Admiralty inlet. On the southerly shore of
this bay is New Tacoma. It is built on ground
ascending by successive steps or plateaus from
the water to the height of 300 feet, and commands
extensive views of the Sound, the valley of the
Puyallup river, the forest foot hills, the Cascade
range of mountains in the east, and the Olympic
on the west. The three plateaus rising each about
loo feet have a common slope south eastward
toward the head of the bay, affording easy grades
for access from that direction to the highest points
in the city. And what is remarkable in this rerion.
the ground is of uniform and regular contour. The
opportunity for drainage is excellent beyond any
example that we know of.
The landing place for both passenger and
freight, whether coming by rail or water, is on
tne company s wharf at the base of a twrnen,
dicular bluff which hides the city from view
rrom tins wharf the road leads by easy grade up
to the top of the first bench, which is in fact the
In-ginning of the place, though the corporate
limits include the wharf. On this wharf .1,.
irge hotel kept by Mr. W. n. Hbirku,.!, ' .1..
. " "l 'ic
general superintendent's offices, the freight and
passenger depot, a large warehouse just erected
y iwyj i.-ei ir the storage of wheat, the 0. K. &
N. Co's. offices shops and warehouses. n,l 11,-
commission warehouse and office of Messrs. Sahm
"ariow. 1 hese gentlemen do hy far the largest
... i,.e.r i.ne 01 any hrm on Puget Sound
Along the base of the bluff and behind the
wharf and hotel, passes the track of ih ni 1
-p grade to the coal wharf, which is a large and
,uure am. toward the huge coal bunkers
"inner along and now n rnnrc. f .
Th. 1 1. . . -""ciion
uui ve miles long and three miles
'e, and us waters thoueh denn .nv..j ,
ri -."iu uouna
ance of anchorage ground for the ship, of an im-
Aiong this wharf the steam
ship Great Eastern mipht lie i , ..
h-e several fathom, of water under her keel
Une of ,he slrikinc advantner r .1.:. l . . '
mougn rare, are experienced
m occasional yea,, during the winte,
Along ,he water front and but . short distance
frm the railroad wharf U ,H , . ance
4 Co. "' 01 "atch
Following the railroad f 1
d .long the the h.. f u . T "e e wulh-
,,o,heWu,here;;rrer
" 7oa, me construct
ion
and repair shops of the railroad company, for the
use of which fifty acres of ground has there' been re
served. These are large wooden buildings, Wen
equipped with the best tools and machinery for
building and repairing cars and for repai,ine
locomotives. In these shops have been manuL
tured nearly all the rolling stock of the Pacific
division and all the cars now in use on th p-j
d'Oreille division, except a few passenger coaches
wnicn were Drought out in ships from the east.
A large new building has just been comolei n
these grounds, designed for the use of the com
pany's machine shop, and the dimensions of which
are 204 feet long . by 90 feet in width. It
has two railroad tracks running through its en
tire length, and four pits so that four locomotives
may be undergoing repairs aUthe same time. The
money expended for labor of mechanics in th.
shops, coming as a regular monthly disbursement
is mentioned as one of the considerable resources
of the business of New Tacoma. Where now
hundred men are employed, it is not unlikely that
there will be four or five hundred when these
shops are called upon to fill requisitions for roll.
ing stock for the use of the division, sure to be
built at a day not far distant, eastward across the
Cascade mountains to a junction with the main
line on the Pend d'Oreille division in Eastern
Washington, and indeed for additional rolling
stock, it is expected, along the entire main line,
which will be needed by reason of the largely in
creasing volume of business of the road from .
year to year.
The iron works of David Lister & Co. com
prise a large establishment which came from
small beginnings within a few years by virtue,
chiefly, of the energy and enterprise of the senior
member of the firm. It includes a foundry and 1
well supplied machine shop, in which are skilled
mechanics capable of doing any kind of work in
the diiection of building and repairing machinery.
They can make engines and boilers of all sizfi
and patterns. The moldinc floors of their
foundry have greater measurement than those of
any similar establishment on the Pacific coasl.
They have manufactured car wheels which have
stood the test of years and nre of lirst-clnss qual
ity At these works was built the; large engine
now in use at the saw mill of I latch' A Co., which
furnishes the power required to cut 40,000 feel of
lumber per day. Manufacturing interests appear
to favor the neighborhood about the railroad shops.
Near by. and on the water front, cround is be
ing cleared for the building of a sash and door
factory and a furniture factory. In the same
neighborhood is the brick vnrd. from which the
present supply for this city is chiefly furnished;
and also within a stone's throw, a shingle mill
about to be set up.
In trealine of Hanson t Co.'s large team
saw mill (an illustration of which appeared in our
Oct. lKSUf which Is nnrt ttnA na rolnrih terminal
city, together with all of the interests clustered
about it of land and water front, and otherwi.
we speak of a mill which, after the completion cl
certain improvements now being pushed !
With Vianr will k. nnm nt ilia 1Vrrrjct in the W0fld,
bvt " " 1 Wllb UI tV .
as it certainly will be the largest on Puget Sound
Hr i. : in nnvertll
- -tw o an iiKitiiuiiuii III wuieu iiiiiv 1
s'eam engines are tmployed of an aggregate of
770 horse power and having a capacity fortanv
inrr .1-!!.. .1 . nf 42t.OOO
5 vai umiy ine enormous iiiuuni j
feet of lumber. Mr. George E. Atkinson, -