What if Tacoma was built twice…once in lumber and brick and again in courage? Meet Mrs. Bethel Schneebeck, Miss Alice Humble, Mrs. Elsbeth Haering, Mrs. Violet Graham - strong women, business owners, well ahead of their time. Not waiting to be invited into the room – but creating the room. Through vision, risk and persistence,…

Reservation is required by calling 253-752-7112

Reservations required by calling 253-785-2744

Picture this: A room full of people saying, “We can do this” and then actually doing it. Come hear how the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce helped spark this bold project and meet the Boomers who showed up with hard hats, long days, and stubborn hope, building all three bridges with their own hands and their…

What if Tacoma was built twice…once in lumber and brick and again in courage? Meet Mrs. Bethel Schneebeck, Miss Alice Humble, Dr. Ella Fifield, Mrs. Elsbeth Haering and Mrs. Violet Graham - strong women, business owners, well ahead of their time. Not waiting to be invited into the room – but creating the room. Through…

Reservation is required by calling 253-400-2076

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 violins to jewelry, you will be fascinated to…

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…

In 1906, seven square blocks became something more than a dot on the map, they became Ruston. A small town shaped by the people of the Tacoma Smelting Company who wanted what everybody wants, safety, better streets and services. A steadier kind of everyday life. And maybe most of all, that simple, beautiful thing called…

This area was known as Edison to honor Thomas Edison, a friend of the railroad owner, before transitioning to the name South Tacoma. The Northern Pacific Railway moved its railway shops from downtown Tacoma to the prairie land which is now known as South Tacoma. Soon South Tacoma became a bustling route for early auto…

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 violins to jewelry, you will be fascinated to…