Exit133.com: Early Tacoma Scene on Ebay

Early Tacoma Scene on Ebay (25. March 2006, 22:52 by Derek Young) ~ Bring Our History Home

If you’re into Tacoma’s history, like we are, this Ebay listing is very intriguing. It’s a circa 1888 cabinet card photo taken from a window in the Northern Pacific Railroad’s Headquarters. You look across what is now Pacific Avenue to see the St. Charles Hotel with a buggy parked out front where the Elks Building will eventually built. You see small houses and buildings heading up the hill where the City Hall and the ‘tall’ buildings along Broadway will be built.

I looked around the Tacoma Public Library’s website for information on some of these buildings. While I can find a reference to places like the St. Charles, there aren’t any photos. This is a great piece of Tacoma history. Who wants it? Whoever brings it home, can I get a copy?

See It. Buy It

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Wow, what a stunning shot. The detail is really impressive. So, if this is looking west, this shot has Pacific in the front from left to right and the modern Hilltop area behind it? I wonder if any of those houses are still standing? Knowing the approx. cross street would certainly help.

Seeing photos like this always remind me how much history exists here in Tacoma and how a good amount of it survives in photographs.

1 | Posted by KevinFreitas | Mar 26, 11:07 AM

The St. Charles was located at 565 Broadway. Street names and numbers change, but that should help orient us.

2 | Posted by Derek | Mar 26, 11:31 AM

Thanks for the info. Hereâ€™s a bit more: The church on the left is likely the First Methodist Church as seen in this 1890 photo Iâ€™m a little baffled as to that large brick building right next to it that doesnâ€™t appear in the 1888 photo. I guess it couldâ€™ve been built in those two years. I canâ€™t figure out what exactly that build is though.

The church off to the right is St. Lukeâ€™s Episcopal Church as seen in this 1880s photo

I donâ€™t hold much hope that any of the houses are still around but Iâ€™ll try to figure that out.

3 | Posted by KevinFreitas | Mar 26, 12:04 PM

The brick building in your photos is the circa 1889 Abbot Building seen here. It became the Grand Pacific Hotel in 1891. So what you see in the ebay photos changed by the next year as big buildings started going in.

4 | Posted by Derek | Mar 26, 12:16 PM

The Library Of Congress also has a great resource. Check out their panoramic map archive. There are hand drawn maps of Tacoma from 1884, 1885, 1890 and a few others. Iâ€™ve zoomed in on the 1885 and 1890 maps and can see these two churches. The railroad headquarters is there in the 1890 one. Hours of fun.