Everett's Smelter Goes Cold, Leaving Tacoma Alone
A lack of ore shuts the Everett works for the third time since a fire two years earlier, exposing the fragility of the Puget Sound smelting boom.
Tacoma, Jan. 16.—Word has been received that the Everett smelter has closed down, leaving the Tacoma smelter the only one in operation of San Francisco and west of the Rockies. Lack of ores is said to have caused the shut-down at Everett. Six weeks ago the smelter there was started for the third time since it was burned two years ago.
“The Everett smelter has closed down, leaving the Tacoma smelter the only one in operation of San Francisco and west of the Rockies.”
Everett's smelter shutdown shows how quickly a resource boom could turn into a one-company town's bust. The region's economy still rises and falls with a handful of large employers, and a single closure can still rattle a whole city.
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