The Hotel That Built Tacoma Falls for a Brick Depot
Northern Pacific crews began tearing down the old Blackwell Hotel at the wharf, a weathered landmark that had sheltered early settlers, longshoremen and Chinese merchants, to make room for a modern passenger and freight station.
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.
TACOMA, Jan. 7.—Special.—The Northern Pacific Railroad began work this morning tearing down the old Blackwell Hotel at the wharf, preparatory to erecting a large two-story brick depot on the site.
The Blackwell Hotel is one of the old landmarks of this city. The bulky building was erected by the railroad company soon after it had completed its line to this point, to provide a place for the people flocking westward in large numbers to stop while permanent structures could be erected elsewhere. Mr. Blackwell was put in charge by the railroad, and he laid the foundation of a fortune there. As the city grew, more desirable quarters were built nearer the heart of town.
Of late the building has been used by the railroad for a general office building—a railroad and steamboat ticket office, two waiting rooms and a baggage room on the first floor, and a few offices on the second. The Tacoma Mercantile Company occupied part of the ground floor, and a small fruit and refreshment stand was there until today. Upstairs several longshoremen lodged, and Chinese passengers waiting for the next steamer to China found accommodations there. One or two of Tacoma's Chinese merchants lived there permanently.
The building had long been an eyesore to a number of Tacoma citizens, and when the Northern Pacific's plans for a new passenger and freight depot were announced there were many expressions of approval. The structure had fallen into partial decay, its boards were warped nearly out of shape, and there was great danger of fire if the waiting-room or office fires were heated too much. With the changes now being made at the wharf and the erection of a new brick and stone depot, the wharf will not present the same forlorn and deserted appearance that has marked it for some time.
“The Blackwell Hotel is one of the old landmarks of this city.”
Tacoma's waterfront has been remade several times since the Northern Pacific wharf, and the Blackwell Hotel's fate is a reminder that today's redevelopment fights are often about which layers of a city's history get demolished and which get preserved. The hotel also housed longshoremen and Chinese merchants, groups often pushed to the edges of the boomtown economy.
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