Fighting to Keep the Waterfront Open
Tacoma residents push back against an ordinance to vacate Sprague Street, which would block public access to the bay.
Another scheme is on foot to close up the outlets from the city to the water. In the city council last night, an ordinance was ready for passage to vacate Sprague Street, from Front Street to the bay, for the benefit of the adjoining property owners. Councilman Armstrong blocked the thing. He said he did not propose to vote to make Tacoma any more of an inland town than it is now. The matter was sent back to the committee.
“He said he did not propose to vote to make Tacoma any more of an inland town than it is now.”
The struggle for public access to the shoreline remains a defining civic battle in Tacoma. This 1909 attempt to privatize street-ends for industrial or private gain is a direct ancestor to contemporary debates over harbor development and public rights-of-way.
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