The Standard Oil Monopoly Comes to Tacoma
A secret land grab on the tide-flats marks the arrival of a massive industrial alliance between the Standard Oil company and transcontinental railroads.
It seems to be a wrestling match between James J. Hill and the Standard Oil company for possession of the Northern Pacific and Burlington systems. On the one side is the Great Northern system; on the other, the richest private corporation in the world, wielding the combined resources of the Union, Southern and Milwaukee systems. This titanic combination seeks to partakes of the unrivaled shipping facilities of Tacoma. The Standard Oil company has commissioned Mr. James T. Woodward, a New York banker, to acquire terminal and dockage grounds here. He has taken title to a large area of tide-flats in front of this city and has leased 30 years of frontage from the state of Washington to construct extensive railroad docks and warehouses. The operation was conducted with great secrecy by means of options, aiming to depress values and secure the land at low prices. The campaign was successful, yet the people hereabouts hardly seem to know what has happened. The result may be the conquest of the Pacific slope, where it may go hard for the people to maintain their political independence.
“Imagine it to be so large that you could see only a comparatively small part of it at one time—a gigantic octopus... even then you would have an object so relatively small and insignificant in comparison with the real monstrosity of the creature.”
This piece describes the early 20th-century corporate consolidation of the Port of Tacoma, an era of rapid rail expansion that defined the city's geography. Today's debates over the scale of industrial influence on the tide-flats and the Port's environmental impact mirror these long-standing anxieties about who truly controls the waterfront.
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