Organization

City of Tacoma

Named in 22 stories. Back to all names

Dec 21, 1887A Tangle Over Tacoma LandA legal dispute emerges in the southern part of Tacoma over the alleged 'unlawful' development and obstruction of property.Tacoma, WA
Jan 20, 1894The Tacoma Bridge ScandalLocal contractors and builders suspect civic corruption in the rushed bidding process for the Eleventh Street bridge project.Tacoma, WA
Aug 1, 1894Tacoma Says It's Broke—But Its Ex-Treasurer Reported $100,000 on HandA creditor moves to collect a $1,700 judgment, threatening to expose where Tacoma's money went.Tacoma, WA
Aug 14, 1894Tacoma Beats the Electric Company in Court and Keeps Selling Cheap LightA Pierce County judge ruled the city may supply its own electricity — and that the private Commercial Electric Light Company has no right to shut down a competitor whose prices are simply too low for it to match.Seattle, WA
Sep 5, 1894Tacoma Fights the Railroad for Its Own WaterfrontAt a state land commission hearing, city officials and citizens demand a wider public harbor line to keep the Northern Pacific and Tacoma Land Company from controlling the waterway.Tacoma, WA
Jan 5, 1895Who Drew Tacoma's Harbor Lines? A New Affidavit Deepens the Tide-Land FightAs Tacoma and the Northern Pacific fought over the waterfront, a witness swore he saw a Tacoma Land Company representative preparing the very maps the state used to fix the harbor line.Tacoma, WA
Jan 18, 1895The Populist Orator's Family Sues Tacoma Over a Bruising ArrestJames H. Ross and his wife seek $15,080, alleging that police locked up a screaming child and treated the family indecently after a theft charge.Tacoma, WA
Mar 5, 1895The Judge Turned Off Tacoma’s WaterAn unpaid condemnation judgment gave one man the power to shut down the city’s creeks—and the fashionable North End faced a water famine.Tacoma, WA
Mar 13, 1895Tacoma Offers to Hand Its Water System Back to the Man It Bought It FromWith springs shut off and a fire engine pumping to keep taps flowing, Tacoma's mayor writes C. B. Wright a remarkable offer: take back the light and water plant.Crystal Springs, Tacoma, WA
Apr 4, 1895Tacoma's Water and Light Bonds Survive Their Day in CourtJudge Stallcup's suit to invalidate the city's light and water bond issue was dismissed in superior court; the case will go to the state Supreme Court.Tacoma, WA
May 1, 1895Tacoma Sues Its Ex-Treasurer Over Public Money Lost in Failed BanksThe city argues George W. Boggs should answer for funds left in banks that collapsed — but a judge rules the council had no right to name depositories in the first place.Tacoma, WA
May 8, 1895Tacoma’s Mayor Fires Public Works President After a Heated ExchangeDavid L. Demorest tells Mayor Orr he wants nothing more to do with his administration; by evening the mayor has a letter ready declaring him out of a job.Tacoma, WA
May 21, 1895The Treasurer's Bond and the Asylum SignatureA Tacoma bondsman says her name was forged on ex-City Treasurer George W. Boggs's bond while she was confined at Steilacoom—and that she never authorized the defense filed in her name.Tacoma, WA
May 24, 1895No Money, No Jury: Tacoma's Judge Stops Court to Prove a PointJudge Stallcup vacated a jury order because the county had no cash to pay jurors—and his suit over Tacoma's water bonds made the bench itself the story.Tacoma, WA
Jun 4, 1895Tacoma Looks to Seattle for Paving LessonsTacoma city officials plan a trip to Seattle to study paving techniques, hoping to resolve a long-standing dispute over the condition of Pacific Avenue.Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA
Jul 25, 1903Tacoma Taxpayer Victory Forces City RefundA landmark court ruling forces the City of Tacoma to refund thousands of dollars in invalid tax titles.Tacoma, WA
Sep 17, 1904City's Eight-Hour Law Survives Legal ChallengeA local court rules that the city of Tacoma can enforce its eight-hour workday mandate against a construction firm's protest.Tacoma, WA
Jan 1, 1909Tacoma's 1909 Fight to Own Its PowerOn the eve of a city election, advocates urged voters to approve a $2 million municipal light and power plant—and warned the private power trust would lie to stop them.Tacoma, WA
Jan 1, 1909Tacoma’s Power Vote: The Times Calls Out the TrustOn the eve of a city election, The Tacoma Times urges a vote for the municipal Nisqually power project and accuses the private power interests of a campaign of falsehood.Tacoma, WA
Jan 2, 1909Tacoma Votes to Take the Power BackMayor Linck urges a city-owned plant as Tacoma goes to the polls against the private power monopoly.Tacoma, WA
Feb 10, 1909Tacoma’s Water Commissioner Says He’ll Stay—and He Won’t Take a RaiseH. J. McGregor denies rumors of resignation, turns down a higher salary, and vows to finish the city’s water supply and power plant.Tacoma, WA
Feb 17, 1909A Former Superior Court Judge Says the Streetcar Tracks Ate His Front YardJohn C. Stallcup wants $6,000 from Tacoma, arguing the city let the Pacific Traction Company double-track Cliff Avenue past his two South Fifth Street lots without so much as asking — and left private land doing the work of a public street.Tacoma, WA