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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1904 | 15 |
| 1909 | 8 |
23 stories matching brick
- The Great Tacoma Brick Famine
A supply chain crisis at a Renton monopoly grinds Tacoma’s infrastructure projects to a halt.
- The Battle for the Paving of Pacific Avenue
Tacoma business owners hash out a heated, two-hour debate over whether to use locally sourced fir blocks or imported vitrified brick for the city's main street.
- The Gold-Brick Con: A Tacoma Contractor Swindled
A Slavonian contractor loses $550 to two men posing as subcontractors in an elaborate fake-deal scheme.
- Condemned Shacks Near Downtown Face Demolition
Building inspector condemns wooden structures at a prime downtown intersection, forcing a transition to modern brick development.
- Blasting Beneath 14th and A
Contractor C.D. Elmore is drilling into cement gravel to carve out a new foundation for a downtown landmark.
- Tacoma’s Poisoned Water
A local newspaper argues that the city's reliance on the polluted Clover Creek for drinking water is driving typhoid fever and threatening the lives of its residents.
- The Miracle Lifters of Tacoma
A local construction firm successfully raises a massive six-story Seattle hotel that cracked during tunnel excavation.
- The Great Jailbreak on the Waterfront
Two young prisoners pried their way out of a city jail with nothing but a table leg and help from friends on the outside.
- City Orders Poorly Laid Paving Ripped Up
A commissioner rejects the work of the Barber Asphalt Company for insufficient concrete foundations on North End streets.
- The City's Largest Paving Project Announced
A $200,000 infrastructure overhaul is set for Puyallup Avenue and Bay Street.
- The York Hotel Marked for Destruction
A landmark Seattle building is deemed a hazard after Great Northern tunnel work destabilizes its foundation.
- A New Skyline for Tacoma
The Commercial Club plans a ten-story skyscraper on Pacific Avenue to house its headquarters.
- The Big Thaw Returns Tacoma to Work
After two weeks of deep snow and arctic cold, Tacoma's building trades are finally getting back to business.
- Expansion of the Red Light District
A notorious district on A Street is set for expansion as a developer secures permits for a new subterranean 'house of ill-fame'.
- The Seven-Foot Drop: A Property Dispute
A Tacoma couple fights back after county street grading leaves their home sitting high above the new road level.
- The City’s Grasping Monopoly
Tacoma’s editorial board calls out corporate greed and local political complacency regarding the city’s power infrastructure.
- The Saloonist and the Building Inspector
A prominent local businessman attempted to bypass city fire ordinances to construct an illegal addition for his saloon, exposing alleged official corruption at City Hall.
- The Bold Bet on C Street
A local businessman purchases historic market property with eyes toward a massive redevelopment, signaling growing confidence in Tacoma's business corridor.
- The Battle for Fire Safety on Pacific Avenue
Tacoma’s People's Store faces legal action for refusing to install mandatory fire escapes.
- The Northern Pacific's Tacoma Depot Is a Rat-Infested Shed
While the railroad pours a quarter-million into a new Seattle terminal, Tacoma commuters are left with a miserable shack.
- The Great Tacoma Water Flimflam
A look back at the 1890 council scandal that left the city with a mountain of debt and a useless water system.
- The Fire That Killed a Hotel
A disastrous downtown blaze consumed the Star Theater, inadvertently scuttling a major quarter-million-dollar property deal.
- Three Thousand Boosters Eat, Cheer, and Rebrand Tacoma
One night in February 1909: 3,000 boosters packed the armory, picked a new city slogan — 'You'll Like Tacoma' — and got sermons on land, liquor, and who should own the tide flats.