The Coal Wars: Seattle vs. Tacoma
A spirited defense of Seattle's industrial dominance against Tacoma's regional claims.
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.
Seattle and Tacoma have about an equal quantity capacity for handling coal, but Tacoma's capacity for loading coal is only about one-third to one-half that of Seattle's. There have never been 100,000 tons of coal shipped from Tacoma in any one month of its existence. We challenge contradiction by citing the official records. Again, the Ledger says that Tacoma is the place from which must be shipped all the coal that has yet been discovered in the Territory. This is not true. The Green River coal fields yield bituminous coal which is equal if not superior to that produced by the Carbonado or Wilkeson mines. The railroad to the Franklin colliery will be completed in less than eight months, and within one year from that time, Seattle will be receiving 1,000 tons from Green River daily.
“We assert, and again challenge contradiction, that from Seattle and not Tacoma will be shipped a majority of the bituminous coal that has been discovered in this Territory.”
In the 1880s, the economic future of the Puget Sound was defined by the 'Coal Wars,' with Seattle and Tacoma fighting for railroad access to the mines. Today, the focus has shifted from extracting and exporting raw coal to a green energy transition, but the rivalry between the two cities for regional infrastructure and influence remains as sharp as ever.
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