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 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.
At 11 o'clock this morning, N. W. Clark, commissioner of public works, awarded the contract for paving Pacific avenue from South Seventh street to South Seventeenth street to F. A. Keasal for $48,007. A representative body of Pacific avenue business men decided by a vote of nearly two to one that the Denny Clay company's vitrified brick should be the material used. The conclusion to use brick was reached after a discussion lasting over two hours, in which the merits of asphalt, brick, and fir blocks were set forth. The proponents of the brick pavement argued that it would last longer and present a better appearance to strangers. Advocates for fir blocks, led by Henry Mohr, argued for the 'home industry,' claiming that every dollar spent on locally produced fir blocks would stay in Tacoma and Pierce county. Despite the emotional plea for the timber industry, the final vote favored brick, 94 to 80.
“I want a good pavement—one that will last and inspire the stranger with the fact that this is a live town.”
This 1904 debate over 'home production' versus material quality captures a classic tension in urban development that persists today: the desire to support local labor while ensuring city infrastructure doesn't become obsolete or 'unsightly' within a few years.
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