The Industrial Bounty of 1884
A wide-ranging survey of Pierce County’s coal mines, timber mills, and the early aspirations of a burgeoning Seattle and Tacoma.
Pierce County abounds in the native wealth of the coast. The coal measures of the county are vast, extending from the eastern base of the Cascade mountains to the valleys bordering on Puget Sound. During the year 1883, the coal mines shipped from Tacoma as follows: Carbonado, 138,466 tons; South Prairie, 16,444 tons; Wilkeson, 8,206 tons; grand total, 163,116 tons. Estimating the price at $4 per ton, the total value for the year was $671,464. The pay roll at the Carbonado mines averages $20,000 per month. The other mines pay their employees in like proportion. The increase of the output for these mines for 1884 promises to be proportionately as great as that for 1883. Practically inexhaustible quarries of stone of great beauty and durability are found in Pierce County. St. Luke’s Memorial Church in Tacoma has been built of this material, and the appearance of the church after extensive use bears witness to the great durability of the product of the Wilkeson quarry.
“The coal measures of the county are vast, extending from the eastern base of the Cascade mountains to the valleys bordering on Puget Sound.”
This 1884 report captures a moment of intense resource extraction that defined the Pacific Northwest's rapid development. Today, while coal is no longer the engine of the region, the same tension between industrial growth, environmental impact, and the rapid expansion of city infrastructure remains a central theme in Seattle's housing and land-use debates.
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