Centennial Holiday Brings Excursions to Seattle
While the nation observed the Washington Centennial with parades and solemn ceremonies, Tacoma residents flocked to the docks for a holiday excursion to the bustling city of Seattle.
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.
Tacoma, April 30.—Business was apparently suspended here today. Flags decorated Pacific Avenue and other streets, and the city presented a general holiday appearance. There were numerous excursions, the largest being the one by boat to Seattle. The Tacoma Guards gave a street parade before leaving in the afternoon for Seattle. Hundreds of persons drove out to American Lake to a boat-launching.
“Flags decorated Pacific Avenue and other streets, and the city presented a general holiday appearance.”
In 1889, Tacoma and Seattle were fierce economic rivals, yet they were linked by a shared maritime culture. Today, the connection between these two cities remains a defining feature of the Puget Sound region, though commuters now travel by light rail and I-5 rather than the excursion boats of the 19th century.
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