Tacoma’s Power Grab: A Massive Lawsuit for the Nisqually
In an effort to secure land for a municipal power plant, the city of Tacoma has named a litany of corporations and private landowners as defendants in a sweeping condemnation suit.
Judge Stiles, the city attorney, this morning started a suit for the condemnation of land and water rights on the Nisqually River for a proposed municipal power plant. Every person or entity claiming an interest in the water or land in this vicinity has been made a party defendant. The city intends to take the property and let the court decide which of the claimants is entitled to payment. Defendants include the state of Washington, the Nisqually Power Co., Cascade Timber Co., Northern Pacific Railway Co., Milwaukee Land Co., Solis R. Hartsell, Henry Hewitt, Jr., and several others. The city has consolidated these various claims into a single legal action to resolve property disputes once and for all. Meanwhile, Engineer Kelsey is working on plans for the plant, shifting the dam site to gain greater elevation and efficiency.
“The city has bunched the whole lot and made them all defendants so as not to miss anybody.”
Tacoma Power’s development of the Nisqually remains a cornerstone of the city’s municipal infrastructure today. This 1909 legal maneuver reflects the aggressive civic expansionism characteristic of the era, where the city utilized the legal system to consolidate power and water rights to fuel rapid industrial growth.
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