The Boomtown Hype of 1870s Tacoma
A booster-style editorial from the Snohomish Eye argues for a direct shipping route to New Tacoma to bypass Seattle's influence.
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.
The Tacoma Land Company has laid out a town at the terminus of the railway. The shipping advantages are immense. Every ton of freight that now goes to Seattle can be handled with a profit in Tacoma. We have reports that 500 tons of flour and feed were recently landed on the wharf at New Tacoma, giving the town control of the trade in this article. If we in Snohomish can establish direct communication with New Tacoma, we would avoid the costly, indirect route through Seattle. Our farmers could send their produce to New Tacoma and receive their supplies directly, saving immense sums on transit and avoiding the monopoly held by Seattle middlemen. It is time for our section of the country to look toward the terminus city for our commercial future.
“Every ton of freight that now goes to Seattle can be handled with a profit in Tacoma.”
This editorial captures the raw, competitive 'boosterism' of the Pacific Northwest in the 1870s, where towns fought tooth-and-nail for the favor of the railway. Today's regional squabbles over transit infrastructure and logistics hubs are direct descendants of these nineteenth-century economic turf wars.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.