Tacoma Light and Water Company
Named in 34 stories. Back to all names
- Oct 12, 1891Caught in the Dynamo: A Tacoma Worker Squeezed to Death at His PostEdward H. Curran was at his station in the Tacoma Light and Water Company's electric plant when the machinery pulled him through a gap far too small for a man, breaking nearly every bone in his body.Tacoma, WA
- Mar 30, 1892The Political 'Linen-Washing' of 1892In a frantic bid for the labor vote in Tacoma, mayoral candidate Alexander Parker is forced to scrub his reputation of sympathy for the city's persecuted Chinese community.Tacoma, WA
- Apr 5, 1892The Betting Frenzy at Pacific and TenthA high-stakes municipal election turns Tacoma’s city center into a chaotic, money-soaked spectacle where candidates bet on themselves and crowds swarm the streets in political delirium.Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA
- Sep 30, 1892Railroad Tycoon Weighs In on Tacoma’s FutureC.B. Wright, former Northern Pacific president, talks shop on the ‘Hunt System,’ the Great Northern’s expansion, and his unexpected desire to see the city take control of the water works.Tacoma, WA
- Oct 23, 1892The Battle for Steilacoom LakeA landmark lawsuit reveals the vanished history of Washington's oldest grist mill and the early water wars of Pierce County.Steilacoom, WA
- Oct 29, 1892The Bitter Rivalry Between Tacoma and SeattleA powerful committee of Tacoma businessmen lobbies state leadership to ensure no support is given to Seattle or local Republican candidates aligned with the city.Pacific Avenue, Tacoma, WA
- Nov 1, 1892Meyer Wins $2,000 in Tacoma Water Power SuitA landmark court battle over diverted stream water concludes in Tacoma, leaving both the utility and the plaintiff dissatisfied.Tacoma, WA
- Feb 12, 1893The Tacoma Water Plant ScandalA suspected $500,000 kickback scheme involving the city's purchase of a private utility plant ignites a public outcry in Tacoma.Tacoma, WA
- Feb 20, 1893The Price of a City's ThirstTacoma’s struggle to purchase its own waterworks reveals the city's entanglement with Northern Pacific rail interests and the high cost of utility monopolies.Tacoma, WA
- Feb 27, 1893Tacoma’s 'Pig in a Poke' Water DealTaxpayers revolt against a dubious multi-million dollar municipal purchase of water and electric assets.Tacoma, WA
- Mar 3, 1893Buy Our Waterworks, or We'll Sell You to a SyndicateTacoma's Light and Water Company files its inventory for a $1.75 million city buyout — and a critic notes that the company has always known how to win a Tacoma election.Tacoma, WA
- Mar 22, 1893The Curtain Falls on the OlympicA Tacoma theater is left in the dark after the manager fails to pay a utility bill, marking the end of a disastrous business experiment.Tacoma, WA
- Mar 25, 1893The Supreme Court Rules Against Voter Registration in TacomaA surprise high court ruling eliminates voter registration requirements for an upcoming special municipal bond election, sparking fears of illegal voting.Tacoma, WA
- Apr 3, 1893Tacoma's Two-Million-Dollar Question: Buy the Water Works, or Fix the Sewers?On the eve of a bond vote, Tacoma's taxpayers are told they can have the private water and electric plant and new sewers too. The arithmetic says otherwise: after the purchase, $3,707 is left for sewers.Seattle, WA
- Apr 9, 1893Tacoma's 1893 Water Purchase Vote and Bribery ClaimsBribery allegations and political intimidation reach a fever pitch as citizens decide whether the city should purchase the private water and light plant.Tacoma, WA
- Apr 11, 1893The Battle Over Tacoma's WaterworksAs citizens gather to protest a municipal bond election for the private water company's plant, accusations of political bribery and corporate control boil over.Tacoma, WA
- Apr 14, 1893The Truth Behind the Tacoma Utility VoteA critical look at how the Tacoma press ignored dissenters during the city's purchase of a water and light company.Tacoma, WA
- May 19, 1893Tacoma’s Water and Light Bond Issue Struck DownA Superior Court judge voids a $2,150,000 bond issue, citing municipal debt limits and technical failures in the election process.Tacoma, WA
- Sep 10, 1893The Great Tacoma Water HeistCity leaders uncover a massive discrepancy in the city's newly purchased water plant after boosters inflated the daily flow of local springs.Tacoma, WA
- Oct 1, 1893The Tacoma Waterworks ScandalCitizens and the City Council expose a massive financial swindle involving a failing water plant purchase.Tacoma, WA
- Oct 9, 1893Tacoma’s Costly Water ScandalCity officials discover that the expensive gravity-fed water system sold to the public is a fiction, sparking a search for accountability.Tacoma, WA
- Nov 12, 1893The Million-Dollar Water HeistA scathing audit reveals that Tacoma taxpayers were bilked out of over a million dollars in a rigged water works acquisition deal.Tacoma, WA
- Nov 14, 1893Tacoma’s Water Crisis and the Million-Dollar 'Steal'A court injunction cuts off the city's primary water source, prompting fears of pestilence and highlighting a suspicious, debt-laden municipal purchase.Clover Creek, Tacoma, WA
- Jun 14, 1894The Great Moonlight Water Pipe HeistThe Tacoma Light and Water Company sues the city after the Mayor and Board of Public Works seized their pipes under the cover of darkness.Tacoma, WA
- Jul 15, 1894Tacoma's Water Chief Accused—and the City Hall Feud Behind ItMayor Orr's appointment of George H. Hollidge to run Tacoma's water and light plants blew up into a public corruption fight, with secret affidavits, anonymous postal cards and a grand jury waiting.Tacoma, WA
- Jul 17, 1894Tacoma’s Whitewash That Wasn’tA public-works president accuses a newly appointed superintendent of dishonesty—then refuses to put the charges in writing.Tacoma, WA
- Sep 14, 1894Tacoma Sues Water Company for $1 Million Over a Dry PromiseCity officials say Patterson Springs delivered a fraction of the promised flow, making the costly gravity system practically worthless.Tacoma, WA
- Jan 6, 1895A Judgment Against the Man in the Moon: Tacoma's $2 Million Water Bond FightJudge Stallcup tried to invalidate $2,130,000 in water bonds. The water company's lawyer shrugged—and warned that bondholders would haul the city into court if interest went unpaid.Tacoma, WA
- Mar 12, 1895Tacoma's Water Was Cut Off by a Court Order—and the City Went Looking for WellsA judge holds Tacoma officials in contempt for ignoring an injunction over Clover and Spanaway creeks, forcing the city to shut off a major source and scramble for gulch water and Northern Pacific wells.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
- Mar 16, 1895A City Accused of Stealing Its Water by NightA rancher with an injunction, a mayor at the end of his borrowing power, and a reservoir that empties at dusk and fills by dawn: Tacoma's fight over Clover Creek water becomes a standoff between the city and the man who owns the creek.Clover Creek, Tacoma, WA
- May 7, 1895Tacoma’s $1 Million Water Lawsuit Alleges City Hall CollusionCity Attorney Wickersham refiled Tacoma’s suit against the light and water company, alleging officials and company agents conspired to carry the election.Tacoma, WA
- Sep 3, 1904The Great Tacoma Water GriftHow a corrupt water monopoly swindled the city out of nearly $1.5 million for a tainted water supply, leaving residents with a decade of filth.Tacoma, WA
- Sep 5, 1904The Great Tacoma Water FlimflamA look back at the 1890 council scandal that left the city with a mountain of debt and a useless water system.Tacoma, WA