City Leaders Form 'Improvement Society' to Push Paving and Sidewalks
A new civic organization unites the Chamber of Commerce and local business groups to demand better roads and permanent cement sidewalks throughout Tacoma.
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.
A joint committee representing the Chamber of Commerce, Grocers' Protective Association, Union Club, and the Riding and Driving Association met last evening and organized a permanent society to be known as the Tacoma Improvement Society. The object of the organization will be to advance the welfare of the city of Tacoma and to create sentiment in favor of better public roads and cement sidewalks within and adjoining the city. The officers are Charles H. Hurley of the Union Club, president; J. H. McDonald of the grocers' association, vice president; J. G. Whitehouse of the chamber of commerce, secretary; and S. R. Balkwill, treasurer. Mr. Hurley spoke in favor of a plan to pave more than one street each year, arguing that the work would be done cheaper than if only one street was paved each season. Everett Griggs also noted that if Yakima Avenue and contiguous streets were kept sprinkled, it would help create a spirit in favor of street improvement among those who owned driving horses.
“To foster and encourage in the citizens of Tacoma a loyal spirit of devotion to its best interests and a civic pride that shall make every citizen an active exponent of its superior advantages as a place of residence.”
Tacoma's early 20th-century preoccupation with street paving and sidewalk infrastructure reflects the city's rapid, unchecked growth during the boom years. Today, debates over road maintenance, pedestrian infrastructure, and multi-modal transit remain central to Tacoma's civic identity and urban planning.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.