A City Built on a Railroad Decision
Tacoma exists as a major city because of a single corporate decision made in 1873: the Northern Pacific Railroad chose Commencement Bay as the western terminus of its transcontinental line. That decision — choosing Tacoma over Seattle, Portland, and Olympia — set off a land boom, attracted thousands of settlers, and established Tacoma as the “City of Destiny” for one explosive generation. Everything that followed — the boom, the bust, the slow rebuilding — traces back to that railroad choice and what happened when the railroad’s monopoly power faded.
The Northern Pacific Terminus (1873-1893)
When Northern Pacific selected Tacoma, the site was barely a settlement — a few hundred people at most. Within 20 years, it was a city of 36,000 with brick commercial buildings, electric streetcars, a massive hotel (which became Stadium High School), and the confidence to call itself the future metropolis of the Pacific Northwest.
The growth formula was straightforward: the railroad owned enormous tracts of land in and around Tacoma (granted by Congress as incentive to build the transcontinental line). Every immigrant and business that arrived increased the value of railroad land. Northern Pacific actively recruited settlers, advertised Tacoma nationally and internationally, and invested in city infrastructure to protect its land investment. The city and the corporation were functionally inseparable during this period.
The ambition was visible in the built environment. The Tacoma Hotel (1884) — designed by Stanford White’s firm — was intended as a West Coast palace rivaling anything in San Francisco. The cable car system was among the earliest on the West Coast. The street grid was platted for a city of 500,000. Tacoma genuinely believed it would be larger than Seattle.
The Chinese Expulsion of 1885
Tacoma’s darkest historical episode occurred on November 3, 1885, when a mob of several hundred white residents forcibly expelled the city’s entire Chinese population — approximately 200 people — marching them to the railroad tracks and forcing them onto trains out of town. The expelled residents’ homes and businesses in Tacoma’s Chinatown were then burned to the ground.
This was not a spontaneous riot. It was organized by city leadership, including Mayor Jacob Weisbach, who participated directly. The expulsion was rationalized through anti-Chinese labor sentiment common across the West Coast, but Tacoma’s version was particularly systematic and complete — no Chinese residents remained in the city afterward, and the community was not rebuilt for decades.
The historical reckoning with this event has been slow. In 1993 — over 100 years later — the City Council passed a resolution of apology. In recent years, Tacoma has taken additional reconciliation steps including the Chinese Reconciliation Park on the Schuster Parkway waterfront, designed as a permanent memorial and space for reflection. The park was developed through community effort and occupies waterfront land near where the Chinese community was expelled.
This history matters for understanding Tacoma’s present because it illustrates how cities can participate in systematic injustice while simultaneously building impressive infrastructure — a pattern that recurs in Tacoma’s relationship with its African American, Native American, and immigrant communities throughout the 20th century.
Stadium High School: The Castle
Stadium High School — the French chateau-style building overlooking Commencement Bay from the North End bluff — is Tacoma’s most architecturally distinctive structure and carries a story that encapsulates the boom-bust arc. The building was started in 1891 as the Tacoma Hotel by Northern Pacific Railroad, designed to be a luxury destination hotel rivaling the finest in America. Construction was lavish: turrets, towers, copper roof, elaborate stonework.
Then came the Panic of 1893 — a national financial crisis that hit railroad towns hardest. Northern Pacific went bankrupt. Construction stopped. The unfinished hotel sat empty, a monument to overreach. A fire in 1898 damaged the interior. Rather than demolish it, the city eventually converted the shell into a high school, which opened in 1906. It has served as Stadium High School since — one of the most unusual public school buildings in America.
The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Its visual impact on the city — perched on the bluff, visible from the waterfront and bay — makes it Tacoma’s de facto architectural symbol. It appeared in the 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You” (filmed on location), bringing it brief national visibility.
The Bust and the Long Recovery (1893-1950s)
The Panic of 1893 didn’t just slow Tacoma — it permanently altered the city’s trajectory relative to Seattle. When Northern Pacific went bankrupt, Tacoma lost its corporate patron. Seattle, which had diversified earlier (Klondike Gold Rush outfitting, multiple railroad connections, more independent merchant class), recovered faster and pulled ahead permanently in the 1890s-1900s.
Tacoma’s population growth stalled while Seattle’s accelerated. By 1910, Seattle’s population was double Tacoma’s — a gap that has never closed. The “City of Destiny” narrative collapsed, replaced by a quieter identity as a working-class port and industrial city in Seattle’s shadow.
The 20th century saw Tacoma define itself through industry: the port, the smelter (ASARCO), military presence (Fort Lewis, established 1917), lumber mills, and manufacturing. These were solid economic foundations but not the stuff of civic glamour. Tacoma became a city that worked for a living — functional, unpretentious, and persistently underestimated by outsiders who saw only Seattle’s reflected shadow.
Reinvention (1990s-Present)
Tacoma’s modern reinvention began in the 1990s with the Museum District development on Pacific Avenue (Museum of Glass, Washington State History Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, the Bridge of Glass), followed by the University of Washington Tacoma campus opening in the former warehouse district. These institutional investments signaled that the city was building a post-industrial identity.
The transformation accelerated in the 2000s-2020s: the Thea Foss Waterway cleanup and redevelopment, Point Ruston (ASARCO smelter site to mixed-use community), light rail, brewery culture, restaurant scene growth, and the housing-cost refugees from Seattle discovering that Tacoma had genuine urban amenities at substantially lower prices.
Today’s Tacoma is neither the “City of Destiny” of 1890s boosterism nor the rough industrial town of mid-century reputation. It’s a mid-size Pacific Northwest city finding its own identity independent of Seattle comparisons — a process that took over a century but appears to be reaching a sustainable equilibrium.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Tacoma called the City of Destiny?
The nickname dates to 1873 when the Northern Pacific Railroad chose Tacoma as its western transcontinental terminus — the “destiny” of becoming the Pacific Northwest’s dominant city. The phrase reflected 1880s-1890s booster ambitions that Tacoma would surpass all other West Coast cities. The Panic of 1893 ended that trajectory, but the nickname persists.
What happened to the Chinese community in Tacoma?
On November 3, 1885, a mob including city leadership forcibly expelled Tacoma’s entire Chinese population (approximately 200 people) and burned their homes and businesses. It was one of the most systematic anti-Chinese expulsions in American history. The City Council issued a formal apology in 1993, and the Chinese Reconciliation Park now memorializes the event.
Is Stadium High School really a former hotel?
Yes. The building was started in 1891 as a luxury hotel by the Northern Pacific Railroad. The 1893 financial panic stopped construction, and a 1898 fire damaged the interior. The city converted the shell into a high school that opened in 1906. It remains an active public high school and National Register of Historic Places site.
When did Tacoma lose to Seattle as the biggest city?
Seattle pulled ahead decisively in the 1890s-1900s after the Northern Pacific bankruptcy removed Tacoma’s corporate patron while Seattle diversified through the Klondike Gold Rush and multiple railroad connections. By 1910, Seattle’s population was double Tacoma’s — a gap that never closed.
What is the Chinese Reconciliation Park in Tacoma?
A waterfront park on Schuster Parkway designed as a permanent memorial to the 1885 Chinese expulsion. Developed through community effort, it occupies land near where the Chinese community was expelled. The park includes a traditional Chinese pavilion (Fuzhou Ting) and interpretive elements telling the story of the expulsion and reconciliation effort.
