“There is, perhaps, no seaport town of its size in the United States where so large a portion of the inhabitants are so deeply interested in ships.” ~Captain Cameron of the J.B. Brown speaking of New Tacoma Captain Cameron made this statement one day in May 1883 after watching Tacoma residents as they walked along
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One morning in May 1877, just as dawn broke, Tacoma residents woke to gunfire shots coming from the Palace Saloon. A dispute had arisen between proprietor C.J. Longpray and two gamblers from Portland.

When flying was new and exciting, any time it attracted the attention of a comely young woman, the information nearly always made the newspapers. In 1915, that woman was Emil Rorke an actress/celebrity adventuress from Los Angeles.  Emil, who went by the name of Jane O’Roark, took fame anyway she could find it. Leaving a
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Remember when, for a period of time, some Tacoma houses had tarpaper roofs with shiny bits of mica on top?  Those roofs were probably made at Jesse Berkheimer’s plant on South M Street. Berkheimer, born in Delhi, Indiana, moved to Minneapolis as a young man and worked in the roofing business.  He wanted to go
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