Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    South Tacoma
    South Tacoma
    South Tacoma
    Ebook191 pages1 hour

    South Tacoma

    By Darlyne A. Reiter

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Nestled snuggly against Lakewood on the southern side of Tacoma, South Tacoma is a vibrant neighborhood comprised of old and new. What was once a prairie where elk and deer roamed was first called Excelsior, later renamed Edison, and finally became known as South Tacoma in 1895. Beginning in the mid-1800s, the area was comprised of cemeteries used to bury Tacoma's deceased, but in 1890, Northern Pacific Railway made the monumental decision to move its railroad shops from downtown Tacoma to this prime prairie land south of the city. The community has evolved since these beginnings into a contemporary, vital addition to the city of Tacoma. Boasting third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation families and many family-owned businesses, South Tacoma is a "small city within a big city," and its citizens are committed to maintaining its unique character for posterity.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439634240
    South Tacoma

    Related to South Tacoma

    Related ebooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Pride Of Place

      Nov 7, 2020

      Pride Of Place
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Emancipation Trail

      Oct 27, 2022

      The Emancipation Trail
      5 min read

    • Article

      State Of The State 200

      Jul 27, 2021

      State Of The State 200
      21 min read

    • Article

      Rags To Honest Riches

      Mar 26, 2019

      Rags To Honest Riches
      3 min read

    • Article

      Montana

      Jun 27, 2023

      FAMILY, HISTORY AND PROGRESS COLLIDE in the popular TV series “Yellowstone” and its various spinoffs, much of them set and filmed in Montana. If your roots in the state go as deep as the Dutton family’s, read on for how you can find your own genealog

      6 min read

    • Article

      Where South Meets West

      Jan 30, 2020

      Where South Meets West
      4 min read

    • Article

      Fairbank, Arizona

      Mar 1, 2022

      Fairbank, Arizona
      4 min read

    • Article

      Along Rivers and Through Prairies

      Oct 1, 2023

      Before Dr. Robert Moore (RIGHT) became an educator at Washington University in St. Louis, he was a historian who worked for the National Park Service for 40 years. He enjoys doing historical research and using architectural drawing programs to create

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Original Texans

      Nov 14, 2023

      The Original Texans
      5 min read

    • Article

      Cast in Iron?

      Apr 2, 2020

      Cast in Iron?
      7 min read

    • Article

      Q: What does Division Street divide?

      May 20, 2023

      In Streetwise Chicago, the 1988 definitive guide to the origins of our city street names, authors Don Hayner and Tom McNamee came up mostly empty on Division: “There seems to be no satisfactory explanation for how this street got its name, but one st

      1 min read

    • Article

      On Vacation with BC History

      Jun 4, 2019

      Books on British Columbia’s history are summer sidekicks for many of us. Packed into suitcases and taken on vacation, tucked into a bag and carted off to the beach, or read at home without switching on a lamp in the sunny evening hours. I usually sta

      10 min read

    • Article

      Heritage Trail

      Apr 19, 2022

      Heritage Trail
      12 min read

    • Article

      Accessing BC History in 2020

      Dec 4, 2020

      Accessing BC History in 2020
      11 min read

    • Article

      The Empty Plinth

      Apr 5, 2024

      The Empty Plinth
      17 min read

    • Article

      Tracking Progress

      Mar 26, 2019

      Tracking Progress
      2 min read

    • Article

      Digging Bourbon

      Jun 13, 2023

      Digging Bourbon
      5 min read

    • Article

      Looking Back 200 Years

      Mar 16, 2020

      Looking Back 200 Years
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Walk Among The Ancients

      Mar 2, 2021

      A Walk Among The Ancients
      6 min read

    • Article

      Tracking Omaha’s Past

      Mar 24, 2020

      Tracking Omaha’s Past
      3 min read

    • Article

      LYTTON A Tale of Two Museums

      Jun 4, 2019

      LYTTON A Tale of Two Museums
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for South Tacoma

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      South Tacoma - Darlyne A. Reiter

      neighborhood.

      INTRODUCTION

      In 1870, Mount Rainier peered majestically down at Hunt’s Prairie as Irish immigrant John Rigney built one of Pierce County’s first homes. In 1890, George W. Traver and the Excelsior Park Land Company purchased large parcels of land in the prairie south of Tacoma and divided them into lots to sell for profit when the Northern Pacific Railway relocated its shops there, according to Herbert Hunt in his book Tacoma: Its History and Its Builders, Volume II. Thus the development of South Tacoma began.

      On April 17, 1891, Ordinance No. 398 was approved to annex the South Tacoma area to the City of Tacoma. The special election was held in the City of Tacoma, Pierce County, State of Washington, and the territory was described in detail in the beginning of the ordinance. Each voter was asked to vote by placing either For Annexation or Against Annexation on his ballot. A notice was published in the Tacoma Daily Ledger for four weeks prior to the election. Inspectors, judges, and clerks were appointed for each precinct within the First Ward and the Second Ward. The approved annexation was inclusive to South Sixty-fourth Street. Additional ordinances passed in 1908 and 1909 extended the South Tacoma perimeter south to Eightieth Street to mark the southern boundary that remains today.

      One hundred years later, the City of Tacoma Neighborhood Council Office established boundaries for the South Tacoma neighborhood as Center Street, Interstate 5, Eightieth Street, and Orchard Street, with multiple residential neighborhoods. In the early 1960s, Interstate 5 divided the community. Many homes were moved to construct the freeway, and many neighbors were no longer within yelling distance.

      Although there are no people alive today who originally helped establish South Tacoma as a community, their descendants are here. Memories, images, family lore, and stories survive—albeit in somewhat varying narrations. This book voices their stories via their images.

      The story begins with the establishment of the cemeteries in chapter one and continues with the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway Shops in chapter two. Chapter three shows the need for an infrastructure in a fast-growing community. Chapter four embraces the importance of education. Chapter five demonstrates how a diverse population created a community and reveals how South Tacoma sustains their status as a respected neighborhood.

      South Tacoma has thrived, survived, and arrived. From telegraph to the Internet, the community perseveres owing to a proud group of citizens committed to the South Tacoma way of life.

      The town of Edison, as it was known at the time, was annexed to Tacoma April 17, 1891. By ordinance and a special election, the city limits was established at Sixty-fourth Street and, 18 years later, extended farther south to the present Eightieth Street. The area was officially named South Tacoma in 1895. (City of Tacoma Ordinance 398, TPL.)

      One

      A GRAVE BEGINNING

      Stories gleaned in cemeteries contradict the belief that death concludes storytelling.

      In 1873, pioneers John and Eliza Rigney sold four acres of family land for $1 to A. M. A. Blanchet, bishop of Nisqually, for a place to bury Tacoma’s Catholics. By 1905, the old cemetery, Pioneer Catholic Cemetery, was full. An adjacent 35 acres were purchased, and Calvary Cemetery Association was incorporated.

      In 1874, Tacoma Land Company deeded 60 acres of prairie land south of Tacoma to establish a cemetery for all Tacomans. Reminiscent of the land it occupied, the 60-acre parcel was named Prairie Cemetery, now known as Oakwood Hill Cemetery. The main entrance was on Edison Avenue, where today South Park Community Center on South Tacoma Way is located. The land remained in the hands of the city for nine years, when it was turned over to the families who owned cemetery property or had a loved one buried there.

      When ownership transferred, the acreage was amicably divided into three sections: Oakwood Hill Cemetery’s entrance moved to the south side of the property; Tacoma Cemetery’s entrance was a short distance north and up the hill from the original entrance; and the Pauper Cemetery was tucked behind the two without its own entrance.

      In 1910, Tacoma Mausoleum Association opened its first building next to Oakwood Hill Cemetery to offer an alternative means for burials.

      By then, trolley cars were being used to carry funeral groups from the mortuary in the city to the cemeteries to the south. According to South Tacoma History, compiled for the City of Tacoma in 1985, Often a casket would ride in the vestibule of the trolley car.

      With the Northern Pacific Railway Shops soon to be built, coupled with water and electricity lines extending south, South Tacoma was shaping up to be a lively community as the new century peeked around the corner.

      Tales are shouted from the famous, the infamous, and the families of Tacoma who rest with the flowering tulips planted beside their graves to those who stroll under the huge trees and past the markers.

      The entrance to Old Tacoma Cemetery was moved to this spot c. 1885. The caretaker’s house on the left was moved across the street and later demolished. The two inside gate pillars were eliminated to make a wider entrance to allow two-way traffic in and out of the cemetery. (Thomas R. Stenger collection.)

      Those buried in the South Tacoma cemeteries read like a who’s who from Tacoma’s founders and families. The oldest recorded burial is 1870 in Calvary Cemetery. Many were buried before and after 1900 at Oakwood Hill and Old Tacoma Cemeteries as well. The beautiful park-like settings are peaceful burial places for all Tacoma families. (Author’s collection.)

      In 1873, John and Eliza Rigney sold four acres of dairy land to form the beginning of Calvary Cemetery. This 1914–1915 image shows what Calvary Cemetery looked like in its infancy as a final resting place for Tacoma’s Catholics, which included Rigney family burials,

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1