The Great Terminus War
A fiery editorial argues that despite corporate favoritism for Tacoma, geography and logic destined Seattle to be the true terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
If the Northern Pacific overland really ends at New Tacoma, then, of course, it may truly be considered the terminus; but if, after arriving at that place, it continues on some thirty miles to another city on the Sound, then, officially, the latter and not the former is the real terminus. The Northern Pacific Company's calling Tacoma its terminus does not make it such as long as the line continues on to an outer bay and city beyond. So it must be plain to common sense that, whilst Tacoma is the nominal terminus, Seattle, when the road terminates, is the real terminus of the N.P.R.R. The city of Seattle will, before many more years have passed, become the terminus of several overland roads. That the Union Pacific or its branch, the Oregon Short Line, is heading for Seattle, and will never rest till it reaches the Queen City of the Sound, is plain to all not willfully blind.
“So it must be plain to common sense that, whilst Tacoma is the nominal terminus, Seattle, when the road terminates, is the real terminus.”
This reflects the fierce 19th-century competition between Washington towns to secure railroad connections, which acted as the lifeblood of regional economic power. The rivalry remains a foundational myth in the Pacific Northwest, framing Seattle's eventual dominance over its neighbors as a matter of both geography and political will.
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