When Tacoma’s streetcars were still humming and the Narrows Bridge gateway began here, 6th Avenue was already doing what it still does best. Moving people through, connecting neighborhoods, keeping the city in motion. Kmart is gone. Shakey’s is gone. PhotoMat, the tiny booth-like time capsule you drove past without thinking is gone too. But the…

Ever feel downtown Tacoma whispering? Streetcars once rolled out from the transportation barn, carrying the city forward.  A child was christened on the girders of the Rust Building – steel and blessing, high above the street. Department stores where you shopped for everything from washing machines to shoes to jewelry, you will be fascinated to…

The Summer of 1929 was exceptionally dry and the Fall was not better, significantly draining Tacoma’s electricity.  The shortage became so critical that Superintendent Ira S. Davisson had to cut power to homes and businesses. In December 1929, there were several discussions between the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce and lumber mill operators to shift their…

Step into Tacoma’s shadowy past. Have you heard about the 1951 vice raids – the kind of story that doesn’t just make the headlines, it rearranges a whole city. Hear about the scandal, the secrets and the shockwaves. From bootleggers and bordellos to a former city attorney who died in a mysterious fire, these aren’t…

Why Tacoma is So Sweet – We are talking about candy – the kind that sticks and brings you back to being eight years old. Hear the surprising truth: some of America’s iconic candy stories began right here. Mars Candy Company, Brown & Haley, Marcoe Candy Company and Johnson Candy. Who were the men and…

Decades ago, Tacoma had a darker side—one that operated in the shadows and was rarely spoken about openly. The Tacoma Underworld was alive and well, and during the 1970s, arson, bribery, extortion, illegal gambling, and organized crime cast a long, uneasy shadow over the city. Names like Janovich and Carbone were only pieces of a…