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One hundred years ago this week, on November 5, 1918, Pierce County voters approved the creation of the Port of Tacoma by a 5 to 1 margin. Before the Port’s formation, the Tacoma waterfront was privately owned by railroads, shipyards, lumber companies, and other industrial firms, and was well established as a center of trade and fishing interests. The creation of the municipal Port gave local citizens more control in planning the future for their “City of Destiny.”    

The Port welcomed its first cargo ship in 1921, expanded its grain-storage capacity in 1930, and oversaw a new era of shipbuilding beginning in 1940. In the years following World War II, the waterfront welcomed many new tenants, and after the arrival of Sea-Land in 1985 was well on its way to becoming a major container port on the West Coast.

Over the years, union workers and management have cooperated to ensure the Port’s success by working together with new technology, new shipping lines, and new delivery mechanisms. In recent years, demolition of outdated structures has led to greater expansion of this historic gateway of trade and commerce.

Take a Seat

In the late 1800s Washington citizens began choosing where to place the “seat” of each county’s government as boundaries were being drawn. Sometimes these decisions came into question as populations began to shift, as was the case in Pierce County, where voters originally chose Steilacoom. On November 2, 1880, residents voted to move the seat to what was then called New Tacoma, home to the Northern Pacific Railroad’s West Coast terminus. And on November 3, 1896, voters in Lincoln County — which was created on November 1, 1883 — opted for Davenport over Sprague.

On November 5, 1878, Klickitat County voters chose Goldendale, although local cattle ranchers opposed an increase in town life at the expense of open range. On November 2, 1886, Douglas County moved its seat from waterless Okanogan to Waterville, but the fight didn’t end there. On November 3, 1914, the city of Okanogan — by then part of Okanogan County — wrested that county’s seat away from Conconully in a countywide election.

NEWS THEN, HISTORY NOW

Dark Pool

On November 1, 1808, the Russian ship Saint Nicholas wrecked near the mouth of the Quillayute River. The survivors were taken captive by Quileute Indians and remained in captivity for two and a half years, during which time seven of them died or disappeared. This week also marks the anniversary of the November 4, 1875, wreck of the SS Pacific, which foundered off Cape Flattery and took 275 passengers and crew to their doom.

In School

On November 2, 1880, voters chose Clara McCarty as the superintendent of Pierce County Schools. Four years earlier, McCarty was the first person to graduate from the Territorial University, which had opened on November 4, 1861, and later became the University of Washington.

Mob Rule

Amid growing anti-Chinese violence up and down the West Coast, a mob of Tacomans expelled the city’s entire Chinese community on November 3, 1885. In 1993 the Tacoma City Council approved the Chinese Reconciliation Resolution to make amends for the shameful episode.