Tacoma ( ) is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Pierce County, Washington Pierce County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 921,130, up from 795,225 in 2010, making it the second-most populous ...

, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's

Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...

, southwest of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, southwest of

Bellevue Bellevue means "beautiful view" in French. Bellevue or Belle Vue may refer to: Places Australia * Bellevue, Queensland * Bellevue, Western Australia * Bellevue Hill, New South Wales Canada * Bellevue, Alberta * Bellevue, Newfoundlan ...

, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of

Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in southeast Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County and northeast Lewis County, Washington, Lewis County in Washington (sta ...

, and east of

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a national park of the United States located in Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier e ...

. The city's population was 219,346 at the time of the 2020 census. Tacoma is the second-largest city in the Puget Sound area and the third-most populous in the state. Tacoma also serves as the center of business activity for the South Sound region, which has a population of about 1 million. Tacoma adopted its name after the nearby

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...

, called in the Puget Sound Salish dialect, and “Takhoma” in an anglicized version. It is locally known as the "City of Destiny" because the area was chosen to be the western terminus of the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

in the late 19th century. The decision of the railroad was influenced by Tacoma's neighboring deep-water harbor,

Commencement Bay Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in t ...

. By connecting the bay with the railroad, Tacoma's motto became "When rails meet sails". Commencement Bay serves the

Port of Tacoma The Port of Tacoma is an independent seaport in Tacoma, Washington. The port was created by a vote of Pierce County citizens on November 5, 1918. The ''Edmore'' was the first ship to call at the port in 1921. The port's marine cargo operations, am ...

, a center of

international trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (See: World economy.) In most countries, such trade represents a significan ...

on the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas North America Countries on the western side of North America have a Pacific coast as their western or south-western border. One of th ...

and Washington's largest port. The city gained notoriety in 1940 for the collapse of the

Tacoma Narrows Bridge The Tacoma Narrows Bridge is a pair of twin bridges, twin suspension bridges that span the Tacoma Narrows strait of Puget Sound in Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County, Washington (state), Washington. The bridges connect the city of Tacom ...

, which earned the nickname "Galloping Gertie" due to the vertical movement of the deck during windy conditions. Like most industrial cities, Tacoma suffered a prolonged decline in the mid-20th century as a result of

suburbanization Suburbanization (American English), also spelled suburbanisation (British English), is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence ...

and divestment. Since the 1990s, downtown Tacoma has experienced a period of revitalization. Developments in the downtown include the

University of Washington Tacoma University of Washington Tacoma (UW Tacoma) is a campus of the University of Washington, located in Tacoma, Washington, United States. The UW Tacoma campus opened its first classrooms in repurposed warehouses in downtown Tacoma in 1990 and opene ...

; the T Line (formerly Tacoma Link), the first modern electric

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

service in the state; the state's highest density of art and history museums; and a restored urban waterfront, the

Thea Foss Waterway The Thea Foss Waterway, formerly the City Waterway, is a north–south inlet of Commencement Bay separating downtown Tacoma, Washington, from the Port of Tacoma. History The City Waterway was created in 1902 through a dredging operation propo ...

History

Early history

The area was inhabited for thousands of years by Native Americans, most recently the

Puyallup Puyallup may refer to: * Puyallup people, a Coast Salish people * Puyallup Tribe of Indians, a federally-recognized tribe * Puyallup, Washington, a city ** Puyallup High School ** Puyallup School District ** Puyallup station, a Sounder commuter ...

people, who lived in settlements on the delta. In 1852, a Swede named Nicolas Delin built a water-powered sawmill on a creek near the head of Commencement Bay, but the small settlement that grew around it was abandoned during the Indian War of 1855–56. In 1864, pioneer and postmaster Job Carr, a Civil War veteran and land speculator, built a cabin (which also served as Tacoma's first post office; a replica was built in 2000 near the original site in "Old Town"). Carr hoped to profit from the selection of Commencement Bay as the terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad, and sold most of his claim to developer Morton M. McCarver (1807–1875), who named his project Tacoma City, derived from the indigenous name for the mountain. Tacoma was incorporated on November 12, 1875, following its selection in 1873 as the western terminus of the

due to lobbying by McCarver, future mayor John Wilson Sprague, and others. However, the railroad built its depot in New Tacoma, two miles (3 km) south of the Carr–McCarver development. The two communities grew together and joined, merging on January 7, 1884. The transcontinental link was effected in 1887, and the population grew from 1,098 in 1880 to 36,006 in 1890.

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

visited Tacoma in 1889 and said it was "literally staggering under a boom of the boomiest". Commencement Bay Land Improvement Co

George Francis Train George Francis Train (March 24, 1829 – January 18, 1904) was an American businessman who organized the clipper ship line that sailed around Cape Horn to San Francisco; he also organized the Union Pacific Railroad and the Credit Mobilier in the ...

was a resident for a few years in the late 19th century. In 1890, he staged a global circumnavigation starting and ending in Tacoma to promote the city. A plaque in downtown Tacoma marks the start and finish line. In November 1885, white citizens led by then-mayor Jacob Weisbach expelled several hundred Chinese residents peacefully living in the city. As described by the account prepared by the Chinese Reconciliation Project Foundation, on the morning of November 3, "several hundred men, led by the mayor and other city officials, evicted the Chinese from their homes, corralled them at 7th Street and Pacific Avenue, marched them to the railway station at Lakeview and forced them aboard the morning train to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. The next day two Chinese settlements were burned to the ground." The discovery of gold in the Klondike in 1898 led to Tacoma's prominence in the region being eclipsed by the development of Seattle. A major tragedy marred the end of the 19th century, when a streetcar accident resulted in significant loss of life on July 4, 1900.

Early 20th century

PostcardTacomaWAPacificAveNorthFrom13thStCirca1907

From May to August 1907, the city was the site of a smelter workers' strike organized by Local 545 of the

Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...

(IWW), with the goal of a fifty-cent per day pay raise. The strike was strongly opposed by the local business community, and the smelter owners threatened to

blacklist Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

organizers and union officials. The IWW opposed this move by trying to persuade inbound workers to avoid Tacoma during the strike. By August, the strike had ended without meeting its demands. Tacoma was briefly (1915–1922) a major destination for big-time automobile racing, with one of the nation's top-rated racing venues just outside the city limits, at the site of today's Clover Park Technical College. In 1924, Tacoma's first movie studio, H. C. Weaver Studio, was sited at present-day Titlow Beach. At the time, it was the third-largest freestanding film production space in America, with the two larger facilities being located in Hollywood. The production studio was also the first of its kind in the Pacific Northwest The first film produced in Tacoma was ''Hearts and Fists'', which starred John Bowers and premiered at Tacoma's Rialto Theater. The studio's importance has undergone a revival with the discovery of one of its most famous lost films, ''

Eyes of the Totem ''Eyes of The Totem'' is a 1927 silent film directed by W.S. Van Dyke. It was one of three films produced by H.C. Weaver Studios in Tacoma, Washington between 1924-1928. Long considered lost, ''Eyes of the Totem'' is the only known survivi ...

''. In 1932, the studios burned to the ground in a mysterious fire, and the production facility was never rebuilt. Several films were destroyed in the fire as old nitrate-based film did not survive.

The Great Depression

The 1929 crash of the stock market, resulting in the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, was only the first event in a series of misfortunes to hit Tacoma in the winter of 1929–30. In one of the coldest winters on record, Tacoma experienced mass power outages and eventually the shutdown of major power supply dams, leaving the city without sufficient power and heat. During the 30-day power shortage in the winter of 1929 and 1930, the engines of the aircraft carrier provided Tacoma with electricity. A power grid failure paired with a newly rewritten city constitution – put into place to keep political power away from a single entity such as the railroad – created a standstill in the ability to further the local economy. Local businesses were affected as the sudden stop of loans limited progression of expansion and renewal funds for maintenance, leading to foreclosures. Families across the city experienced the fallout of economic depression as breadwinners sought to provide for their families. Shanty-town politics began to develop as the destitute needed some form of leadership to keep the peace.

Hooverville

At the intersection of Dock Street EXD and East D Street in the train yard, a

shanty town A shanty town, squatter area, squatter settlement, or squatter camp is a settlement of improvised buildings known as shanties or shacks, typically made of materials such as mud and wood, or from cheap building materials such as corrugated iron s ...

became the solution to the growing scar of the depression. Tacoma's

Hooverville Hoovervilles were shanty towns built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States during the onset of the Depression and was widely blamed for it. T ...

grew in 1924 as the homeless community settled on the waterfront.''Tacoma News Tribune''. Tacoma Hooverville Archive, September 4, 1940 – July 24, 1974. Northwest Room Special Collections and Archives, Tacoma Public Library. Tacoma, Washington.''Tacoma Daily Ledger''. Tacoma Hooverville Archive, July 18, 1924 – September 4, 1940. Northwest Room Special Collections and Archives, Tacoma Public Library. Tacoma, Washington. In 1927, Tacoma's Hooverville was coined "Hollywood" due to the type of crimes at the camp. The population boomed in November 1930 through early 1931 as families from the neighboring McKinley and Hilltop areas were evicted. Collecting scraps of metal and wood from local lumber stores and recycling centers, families began building shanties (shacks) for shelter. By 1934, alcoholism and suicide were a common event in the Hooverville that eventually led to its nickname of "Hollywood on the Tide Flats", because of the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

-style crimes and events taking place in the camp. In 1935, Tacoma received national attention when George Weyerhaeuser, the nine-year-old son of prominent lumber industry executive J.P. Weyerhaeuser, was kidnapped while walking home from school.

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agents from Portland handled the case, in which a ransom of $200,000 secured the release of the victim. Four persons were apprehended and convicted; the last to be released was paroled from

McNeil Island McNeil Island is an island in the Northwestern United States, in south Puget Sound southwest of Tacoma, Washington. With a land area of , it lies in an area of many inhabited small islands, including Anderson Island (Washington), Anderson Island ...

in 1963. George Weyerhaeuser went on to become chairman of the board of the

Weyerhaeuser Company The Weyerhaeuser Company ( ) is an American timberland company which owns nearly of timberlands in the U.S., and manages an additional of timberlands under long-term licenses in Canada. The company has manufactured wood products for over a c ...

. In 1940, after eviction notices failed, the police department attempted to burn down Hooverville. In 1956, the last occupant of "Hollywood" was evicted and the police used fire to level the grounds and make room for industrial growth.

Post-WWII

In 1951, an investigation by a state legislative committee revealed widespread corruption in Tacoma's government, which had been organized commission-style since 1910. Voters approved a mayor and city-manager system in 1952. Tacoma was featured prominently in the

garage rock Garage rock (sometimes called garage punk or 60s punk) is a raw and energetic style of rock music that flourished in the mid-1960s, most notably in the United States and Canada, and has experienced a series of subsequent revivals. The style is ...

sound of the mid-1960s with bands including

The Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Rober ...

and

The Sonics The Sonics are an American garage rock band from Tacoma, Washington, that formed in 1960. Their aggressive, hard-edged sound has been a major influence on Punk rock, punk and Garage rock, garage music worldwide, and they have been named inspir ...

. The

surf rock Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...

band

The Ventures The Ventures are an American instrumental rock band formed in Tacoma, Washington, in 1958, by Don Wilson (musician), Don Wilson and Bob Bogle. The band, which was a quartet for most of its existence, helped to popularize the electric guitar acro ...

were also from Tacoma.

Downtown Tacoma Downtown is the central business district of Tacoma, Washington, United States, located in the inner Northeast section of the city. It is approximately bounded east-west by A Street and Tacoma Avenue, and north-south by South 7th Street and South ...

experienced a long decline through the mid-20th century.

Harold Moss Harold Gene Moss (October 1, 1929 – September 21, 2020) was an American politician and businessman who was the 34th mayor of Tacoma, Washington.Cory Campbell"Moss, Harold (1929-2020 )" Black Past. Accessed online February 6, 2009. He was the f ...

, later the city's mayor, characterized late-1970s Tacoma as looking "bombed out" like "downtown

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

" (a reference to the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

that occurred at that time); "Streets were abandoned, storefronts were abandoned and City Hall was the headstone and Union Station the footstone" on the grave of downtown. The first local referendums in the U.S. on computerized voting occurred in Tacoma in 1982 and 1987. On both occasions, voters rejected the computer voting systems that local officials sought to purchase. The campaigns, organized by Eleanora Ballasiotes, a conservative Republican, focused on the vulnerabilities of computers to fraud. In 1998, Tacoma installed Click! Network, a high-speed fiber optic network throughout the community. The municipally owned power company,

Tacoma Power Tacoma Power is a public utility providing electrical power to Tacoma, Washington and the surrounding areas. Tacoma Power serves the cities of Tacoma, University Place, Fircrest, and Fife, and also provides service to parts of Steilacoom, L ...

, wired the city. In response, the State of Washington passed RCW 54.16.330 in 2000, effectively preventing further research and development of Click! Network until its repeal in 2021 during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, a period of over 20 years.

Downtown revival

Beginning in the early 1990s, city residents and planners took steps to revitalize Tacoma, particularly its downtown. Among the projects were the federal courthouse in the former

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

(1991); Save Our Station community group; Merritt+Pardini Architect (1991); Reed & Stem Architects (1911); the adaptation of a group of century-old brick warehouses into a branch campus of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

; the numerous privately financed renovation projects near the campus; the

Washington State History Museum The Washington State History Museum is a history museum located in downtown Tacoma, Washington, United States. It is operated by the Washington State Historical Society under the official approval of the Washington State Legislature. The mus ...

(1996), echoing the architecture of Union Station; the

Museum of Glass The Museum of Glass (MOG) is a contemporary art museum in Tacoma, Washington, dedicated to the medium of glass. Since its founding in 2002, the Museum of Glass has been committed to creating a space for the celebration of the studio glass movem ...

(2002); the

Tacoma Art Museum The Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is an art museum in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It focuses primarily on the art and artists from the Pacific Northwest and broader western region of the U.S. Founded in 1935, the museum has strong roots in the ...

(2003); and the region's first light-rail line (2003). The glass and steel Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center opened in November 2004.

America's Car Museum LeMay - America's Car Museum is a museum in the city of Tacoma, Washington. The museum is adjacent to the Tacoma Dome and opened on June 2, 2012. Many of the cars on display were donated to the museum by the family of Harold LeMay. Details Haro ...

was completed in late 2011 near the

Tacoma Dome The Tacoma Dome is an indoor multi-purpose arena in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It is located south of Downtown Tacoma, adjacent to Interstate 5 in Washington, Interstate 5 and Tacoma Dome Station. It is currently used for basketball tou ...

. The Pantages Theater (first opened in 1918) anchors downtown Tacoma's Theatre District. Tacoma Arts Live manages the Pantages, the Rialto Theater, and the Theatre on the Square. Tacoma Little Theatre (opened in 1918) is northwest of downtown in the Stadium District. Other attractions include the Grand Cinema, McMenamins Elks Temple, and the Landmark Temple Theatre.

Geography

Tacoma has an official elevation of , varying between sea level and about . According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. Tacoma straddles the neighboring Commencement Bay with several smaller cities surrounding it. Large areas of Tacoma have views of Mount Rainier. In the event of a major eruption of Mount Rainier, the low-lying areas of Tacoma near the Port of Tacoma are at risk from a

lahar A lahar (, from ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of Pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a valley, river valley. Lahars are o ...

flowing down the Puyallup River. The city is several miles north of

Joint Base Lewis–McChord Joint Base Lewis–McChord (JBLM) is a U.S. military installation home to I Corps and 62nd Airlift Wing located south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Headquarters, Joint Base Lewis� ...

, formerly known separately as

Fort Lewis Fort Lewis may refer to: * Fort Lewis (Colorado), a former United States Army post (1878–1891) in the U.S. State of Colorado ** Fort Lewis College, a college in the Durango, Colorado, United States ** Fort Lewis Skyhawks, athletic teams of Fort L ...

and

McChord Air Force Base McChord Field (formerly and still commonly known as McChord Air Force Base) is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord AFB is the home of the 62nd Airlift Wing, ...

Neighborhoods

* Central Tacoma ** Hilltop (shared with Downtown) ** Delong Park **

The Wedge A wedge is a triangular-shaped simple machine. Wedge, The Wedge, or Wedges may also refer to: Common meanings * Wedge (footwear), a type of shoe * Wedge (golf), a type of golf club Culture Fictional characters * Wedge (''Transformers''), an ...

** McCarver (shared with New Tacoma/Downtown) ** Bryant ** College Heights * New Tacoma **

*** St. Helens Neighborhood ***

Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing a city's theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences ...

***

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...

*** Warehouse/Brewery District ***

*** The McCarver Neighborhood (shared with Central Tacoma/Hilltop) *** Stadium District (shared with North Tacoma) *** Dome District * Nalley Valley *

* East Tacoma **

McKinley Hill The Bonifacio Capital District (BCD) is a master-planned estate and financial district in Fort Bonifacio (barangay), Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, Philippines. The estate is under the joint management of Megaworld Corporation and the Bases Conversion ...

Salishan The Salishan languages ( ), also known as the Salish languages ( ), are a family of languages found in the Pacific Northwest in North America, namely the Canadian province of British Columbia and the American states of Washington, Oregon, Ida ...

** Hillsdale ** Swan Creek ** Strawberry Hill * North Tacoma ** College Park ** North Slope ** Old Tacoma ** Proctor District ** Ruston (separately incorporated) ** Ruston Way ** Sixth Ave District Tacoma, Washington **

Skyline A skyline is the wikt:outline, outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural area, rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the ...

** Stadium District (shared with Downtown) ** Westgate (shared with West Tacoma) ** Yakima Hill * Northeast Tacoma ** Browns Point (unincorporated) ** Crescent Heights * South End **

Fern Hill "Fern Hill" (1945) is a poem by the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, first published in ''Horizon'' magazine in October 1945, with its first book publication in 1946 as the last poem in '' Deaths and Entrances''. Creation Thomas had started writing ''F ...

** Lincoln International District ** Wapato ** Excelsior ** Stewart Heights **

Larchmont Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village is 6,453 as of the W ...

* South Tacoma ** Edison **

South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand the ...

Manitou Manitou () is the fundamental life force in the theologies of Algonquian peoples. It is said to be omnipresent and manifests everywhere: organisms, the environment, events, etc. ''Aashaa monetoo'' means "good spirit", while ''otshee monetoo ...

** Oakland/Madrona ** Tacoma Mall * West Tacoma **

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Africa * Highlands, Johannesburg, South Africa * Highlands, Harare, Zimbab ...

Narrows A narrows or narrow (used interchangeably but usually in the plural form), is a restricted land or water passage. Most commonly a narrows is a strait, though it can also be a water gap. A narrows may form where a stream passes through a tilte ...

** Titlow ** Salmon Beach ** Westgate (shared with North Tacoma)

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Tacoma has a warm-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(Köppen ''Csb''). The warmest months are July and August; the coldest month is December.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 219,346 people and 91,951 households residing in the city.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 198,397 people, 78,541 households, and 45,716 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 81,102 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 64.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

(60.5%

Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

), 12.2%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 8.2% Asian (2.1% Vietnamese, 1.6% Cambodian, 1.3% Korean, 1.3% Filipino, 0.4% Chinese, 0.4% Japanese, 0.2% Indian, 0.2% Laotian, 0.1% Thai), 1.8% Native American, 1.2%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

(0.7% Samoan, 0.2% Guamanian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian), and 8.1% were from

two or more races Multiracial Americans, also known as mixed-race Americans, are Americans who have mixed ancestry of two or more races. The term may also include Americans of mixed-race ancestry who self-identify with just one group culturally and socially (cf. t ...

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino residents of any race were 11.3% of the population (8.1% Mexican, 1.1% Puerto Rican). There were 78,541 households, of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% were married couples living together, 14.8% had a female householder with no spouse present, 5.6% had a male householder with no spouse present, and 41.8% were other families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.10. The median age in the city was 35.1 years. 23% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.6% were from 25 to 44; 25.3% were from 45 to 64; and 11.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.4% male and 50.6% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 193,556 people, 76,152 households, and 45,919 families residing in the city. The median income for a household in the city was $37,879, and the median income for a family was $45,567. Males had a median income of $35,820, versus $27,697 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $19,130. About 11.4% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 20.6% of those under the age of 18 and 10.9% of those 65 and older.

Crime

According to Uniform Crime Report statistics compiled by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) in 2022, there were 3,601 violent crimes and 19,217 property crimes, for 221,776 residents. Of these, the violent crimes consisted of 147 forcible rapes, 41 murders, 752 robberies and 2,661 aggravated assaults, while 2,365 burglaries, 11,027 larceny-thefts, 5,582 motor vehicle thefts and 243 instances of arson defined the property offenses. Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood struggled with crime in the 1980s and early 1990s. The beginning of the 21st century has seen a marked reduction in crime, while neighborhoods have enacted community policing and other policies.

Bill Baarsma Bill Baarsma is an American politician and academic who served as the 37th mayor of Tacoma, Washington from 2001 to 2009. Early life and education Baarsma was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, and earned a bachelor's degree in political s ...

(mayor, 2002–2010) was a member of the

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition Everytown for Gun Safety is an American non-profit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was formed in 2013 due to a merger between ''Mayors Against Illegal Guns'' and ''Moms Demand Action for Gun Sens ...

, a bi-partisan group with the goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets". Starting in 2020, during the pandemic, Tacoma's crime started to rise again. In 2022, the city of Tacoma had the highest number of murders in its recorded history, at 45 murders, which dropped to 34 in 2023.

Government

The government of the city of Tacoma operates under a council-manager system. The

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

consists of an elected mayor (

Victoria Woodards Victoria R. Woodards (born July 16, 1965) is an American politician serving as the 39th mayor of Tacoma, Washington. A Democrat, she formerly served for seven years as an at-large member of the Tacoma City Council. Early life and education V ...

) and eight elected council members: five from individual city council districts and three others from the city at-large. All serve four-year terms and are elected in odd-numbered years. The council adopts and amends city laws, approves a two-year budget, establishes city policy, appoints citizens to boards and commissions, and performs other actions. The council also meets in "standing committees", which examine the council's work in more defined areas, such as "Environment & Public Works", "Neighborhoods & Housing", and "Public Safety, Human Services & Education". The council meets as a whole most Tuesdays at 5:00 p.m. in the council chambers at 747 Market St. Meetings are open to the public and provide for public input.

began her term as mayor of the City of Tacoma on January 2, 2018. She is Tacoma's third African-American mayor and third female mayor, and the second African-American female mayor. She succeeded

Marilyn Strickland Marilyn Strickland (born September 25, 1962) is an American politician who is the U.S. representative from Washington's 10th congressional district. The district is based in the state capital of Olympia, and also includes much of eastern Taco ...

, who was elected in 2009, becoming Tacoma's first African-American female mayor. Normal day-to-day operations of the city government are administered by Tacoma's city manager, who is appointed by the city council. Elizabeth Pauli was appointed Interim City Manager on February 6, 2017. She replaced former manager T. C. Broadnax, who was appointed to the office in January 2012 and left in 2017 to become the city manager of

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. At the federal level, Tacoma is part of two congressional districts. The western and northern portions of the city are part of the 6th District, represented by

Emily Randall Emily Elissa Randall (born October 30, 1985) is an American politician and activist who is a U.S. representative for Washington's 6th congressional district and a former member of the Washington State Senate.10th District, represented by former Tacoma mayor

Economy

Tacoma is the home of several international companies, including staffing company True Blue Inc., lumber company

Simpson Simpson may refer to: * Simpson (name), a British surname Organizations Schools *Simpson College, in Indianola, Iowa *Simpson University, in Redding, California Businesses *Simpson (appliance manufacturer), former manufacturer and brand of w ...

, and the food companies

Roman Meal Roman Meal Company was an American bread company with headquarters in Fargo, North Dakota. Founded in Tacoma, Washington, in 1912, the company focused on whole-grain products, including bread, hot cereal, and snack bars. History The Roman Meal ...

and

Brown and Haley Almond Roca is a brand of chocolate-covered, hard toffee with a coating of ground almonds. It is similar to chocolate-covered English toffee. The candy is manufactured by the Brown & Haley Co. of Tacoma, Washington, founded in 1912 by Harry Br ...

. Frank C. Mars founded

Mars, Incorporated Mars, Incorporated (doing business as Mars Inc.) is an American multinational manufacturer of confectionery, pet food, and other food products and a provider of animal care services founded on June 23, 1911, headquartered in McLean, Virgini ...

, in 1911 in Tacoma. Beginning in the 1930s, the city became known for the " Tacoma Aroma", a distinctive, acrid odor produced by

pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is introd ...

manufacturing on the industrial tide flats. In the late 1990s,

Tacoma

Kraft Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

reduced total sulfur emissions by 90%. This largely eliminated the problem; where once the odor was ever-present, it is now only noticeable occasionally downtown, primarily when the wind is coming from the east. The mill produces pulpwood and

linerboard Corrugated fiberboard, corrugated cardboard, or corrugated is a type of packaging material consisting of a fluted wikt:corrugated, corrugated sheet and one or two flat linerboards. It is made on "flute lamination machines" or "corrugators" and i ...

products; previously owned by St. Regis the mill was sold to

RockTenn RockTenn was an American paper and packaging manufacturer based in Norcross, Georgia. In 2015, it merged with MeadWestvaco to form the WestRock company. It was one of North America's leading producers of corrugated and consumer packaging a ...

in 2014. The mill's name changed yet again in 2016 to WestRock and closed on September 30, 2023.

U.S. Oil and Refining U.S. Oil & Refining Co. is an oil refinery located in the tideflats of Tacoma, Washington. History USOR (U.S. Oil & Refining Co.) began in 1952 as Pacific Oil & Refining Co., a privately held corporation. Its first president was Dr. Ernest Ly ...

operates an

oil refinery An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial processes, industrial process Factory, plant where petroleum (crude oil) is transformed and refining, refined into products such as gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, Bitumen, asphalt base, ...

on the tide flats in the

. Built in Tacoma in 1952, it refines 39,000

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids ...

of petroleum per day. The Tacoma Mall is the largest shopping center in Tacoma. It is owned by

Simon Property Group Simon Property Group, Inc. is an American real estate investment trust that invests in shopping malls, outlet centers, and community/lifestyle centers. It is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States and is headquartered in Indian ...

. Anchor tenants include

JC Penney Penney OpCo LLC , doing business as JCPenney (colloquially Penney's and abbreviated JCP) is an American department store chain with 649 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. It is managed as part of the Catalyst Brands portfolio alon ...

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

, and

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...

. An economic setback for the city occurred in September 2009 when

Russell Investments Russell Investments Group LLC is an American investment firm headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Corporate overview According to ''American Banker'', Russell Investments has approximately $300 billion of assets under management, as of Septemb ...

, which had been in downtown Tacoma since its inception in 1936, announced it was moving its headquarters to Seattle along with several hundred white-collar jobs. A large regional office for State Farm occupied the building until 2018 when the building was purchased by the 909 Destiny Fund LLC. The building reopened as a multi-tenant Class A property. The anchor tenant is TOTE Alaska, which announced in 2019 that it would be relocating its Federal Way headquarters to the 909 A Street building's top two floors. Hospitals in Tacoma are operated by

MultiCare Health System MultiCare Health System is a not-for-profit American health care organization based in Tacoma, Washington. Founded in 1882, MultiCare provides health care services at dozens of locations, including eight hospitals, across Washington state. The s ...

and Franciscan Health System. Hospitals include

MultiCare Tacoma General Hospital MultiCare Health System's Tacoma General Hospital is the largest hospital in Tacoma, Washington. It is a level II trauma center with 437 beds and the second-largest obstetrical care center in the state of Washington. Tacoma General began servi ...

Mary Bridge Children's Hospital Mary Bridge Children's Hospital is a pediatric hospital located in Tacoma, Washington. It is an 82-bed facility and a state-designated level II pediatric trauma center. Mary Bridge was established in 1955 by members of Tacoma Orthopedic Associat ...

, MultiCare Allenmore Hospital and St. Joseph Medical Center. The

Tacoma–Pierce County Health Department The Tacoma–Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) is a public health department serving Tacoma and Pierce County in the U.S. state of Washington. It was formed by the city government of Tacoma and Pierce County through an interlocal agreeme ...

manages public health initiatives across the city and county.

Top employers

According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the largest employers in the city are:

Parks and recreation

Parks and recreation services in and around Tacoma are governed by

Metro Parks Tacoma Metro Parks Tacoma (formerly the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma) is a municipal corporation that oversees parks and recreation services in and around the city of Tacoma, Washington, United States.Now known as Parks Tacoma since 2025. Histo ...

, a

municipal corporation Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally o ...

established as a separate entity from the city government in 1907. Metro Parks maintains over fifty parks and open spaces in Tacoma.

Point Defiance Park Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, Washington, United States, is a large urban park. The park includes Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, the Rose Garden, Rhododendron Garden, beaches, trails, a boardwalk, a boathouse, a Washington State Ferries ferry ...

, one of the largest urban parks in the country (at 700 acres), is in Tacoma. Scenic Five-Mile Drive allows access to many of the park's attractions, such as Owen Beach,

Fort Nisqually Fort Nisqually was an important fur trade, fur trading and farming post of the Hudson's Bay Company in the Puget Sound area, part of the Hudson's Bay Company's Columbia Department. It was located in what is now DuPont, Washington. Today it is a ...

, old growth forest trails, and the

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) is located in Tacoma, Washington, US and is the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest, PDZA is owned by Metro Parks Tacoma. Situated on in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park, the zoo and aquarium ...

(PDZA). There are many historic structures within the park, including the Pagoda, which was originally built as a streetcar waiting room. It was restored in 1988 and now serves as a rental facility for weddings and private parties. The Pagoda was nearly destroyed by fire on August 15, 2011. Repair work began immediately after the fire and continued until January 2013, at which time the Pagoda was reopened for public use. Ruston Way is a waterfront area along Commencement Bay north of downtown Tacoma that hosts several public parks connected by a

multi-use trail A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is "designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists". Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

and interspersed with restaurants and other businesses. Public parks along Ruston Way include Jack Hyde Park, Old Town Dock, Hamilton Park, Dickman Mill Park, Les Davis Pier, Marine Park, and Cummings Park. The trail is used by walkers, runners, cyclists, and other recreationalists. There are several beaches along Ruston Way with public access, some of which are also popular for scuba diving. Another large park in Tacoma is Wapato Park, which has a lake and walking trails that circle the lake. Wapato is in Tacoma's south end, at Sheridan and 72nd St. Titlow Beach, at the end of 6th Avenue, is also a

scuba diving Scuba diving is a Diving mode, mode of underwater diving whereby divers use Scuba set, breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface breathing gas supply, and therefore has a limited but variable endurance. The word ''scub ...

area. Wright Park, near downtown, is a large, English-style park designed in the late 19th century by Edward Otto Schwagerl and Ebenezer Rhys Roberts. It contains Wright Park Arboretum and the W. W. Seymour Botanical Conservatory. This historic park is also the home of local festivals such as Ethnic Fest, Out in the Park (Tacoma's

Pride Pride is a human Emotion, secondary emotion characterized by a sense of satisfaction with one's Identity (philosophy), identity, performance, or accomplishments. It is often considered the opposite of shame or of humility and, depending on conte ...

festival), and the Tacoma Hempfest (Tacoma's annual gathering advocating decriminalization of marijuana). Jefferson Park in North Tacoma is the location of a new sprayground, an area designed to be a safe and unique play area where water is sprayed from structures or ground sprays and then drained away before it can accumulate. Frost Park in downtown Tacoma is often utilized for sidewalk chalk contests. Don Pugnetti Park was the site of an

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement against economic inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial ...

encampment. In response to the Tacoma area's growing dog population and stricter leash laws in many areas,

dog park A dog park is a park for dogs to exercise and play off-leash in a controlled environment under the supervision of their owners. Description Dog parks have varying features, although they typically offer a fence, separate double-gated entry an ...

s have begun to be established. Rogers Off-Leash Dog Park is a metro public park established in 1949.

Architecture

Tacoma includes several landmarks and was home to prolific architects, including Everett Phipps Babcock, Frederick Heath, Ambrose J. Russell, and Silas E. Nelsen. Two suspension bridges span a narrow section of the

called the Tacoma Narrows. The Tacoma Narrows Bridges link Tacoma to Gig Harbor and the

Kitsap Peninsula The Kitsap Peninsula () lies west of Seattle across Puget Sound, in Washington state in the Pacific Northwest. Hood Canal separates the peninsula from the Olympic Peninsula on its west side. The peninsula, a.k.a. "Kitsap", encompasses all of Kits ...

. The failure of the first

, which was the third-longest suspension bridge in the world, is a famous case study in architecture textbooks.

Historic landmarks

Tacoma has many properties that are listed on the City of Tacoma Register of Historic Places, the Washington State Heritage Register, and the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The city of Tacoma has an active municipal

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK) is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

program, which includes 165 individual city landmarks and over 1,000 historic properties included within five locally regulated historic overlay zones. Engine House No. 9 is a

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...

built in 1907. The building was placed on the

in 1975. The building houses a

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

and

microbrewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

Stadium High School Stadium High School is a public high school located in the Stadium District near downtown Tacoma, Washington. A historic landmark, the original building opened as a school in 1906 after conversion of an uncompleted railway hotel project. The ...

and the

Stadium Bowl The Stadium Bowl (originally Tacoma Stadium) is a 15,000-seat stadium in the Stadium District of Tacoma, Washington, United States. It is adjacent to Stadium High School and has views of Commencement Bay and Puget Sound from its open north en ...

, part of the Tacoma School District, provided a setting for the movie ''

10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger in his film directorial debut and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Gabrielle Union, and Larisa Oleynik. The scree ...

''. '' Fireboat No. 1'' rests on a permanent dry berth at a public beach near Tacoma's Old Town neighborhood. It was built in 1929 for the Port of Tacoma by the Coastline Shipbuilding Company, and served for 54 years in waterfront fire protection, harbor security patrols, search and rescue missions, and water pollution control. It is one of only five fireboats designated as a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

. Visitors are able to walk around her exterior, but her interior is closed to the public. William Ross Rust House is a home in Colonial/Classic Revival style, built in 1905 by Ambrose J. Russell (architect) and Charles Miller (contractor).

Murray Morgan Bridge The Murray Morgan Bridge, also known as the 11th Street Bridge or City Waterway Bridge, is a vertical-lift bridge in Tacoma, Washington. It originally opened February 15, 1913, to replace an 1894 swing-span bridge. The bridge connects downtown ...

is a 1911 steel lift bridge across the

; in 2007, it was closed to automobile traffic due to its deteriorating condition but was reopened to all traffic in February 2013 following a substantial rehabilitation. Other notable buildings include the

National Realty Building Key Bank Center, formerly the Puget Sound National Bank Building, is a 16-floor high-rise in Tacoma, Washington. When completed as the National Realty Building in 1911, the tower was the tallest building in the state of Washington until surpa ...

, Lincoln High School,

Rhodes House Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is Listed building#En ...

, Pythian Temple, Perkins Building,

, and Rhodesleigh. The Luzon Building and Nihon Go Gakko school house have been demolished, and the MV Kalakala was scrapped in early 2015.

University of Puget Sound The University of Puget Sound is a private liberal arts college in Tacoma, Washington, United States. It was founded in 1888. The institution offers a variety of undergraduate degrees as well as five graduate programs in counseling, education, oc ...

, Cushman Dam No. 1, Cushman Dam No. 2, Rialto Theater, and Union Station are also noteworthy.

Education

The majority of Tacoma is within the boundaries of

Tacoma Public Schools Tacoma School District No. 10, commonly called Tacoma Public Schools, is a school district headquartered in Tacoma, Washington, United States. Composed of 36 elementary schools, 11 middle schools, 11 high schools, and 4 early learning centers. ...

.
Text list
/ref> The district contains 36 elementary schools, eleven middle schools, and 10 high schools, including three non-traditional high schools (SAMi, SOTA, and iDEA) and two alternative high schools (Oakland and Willie Stewart Academy). Tacoma is also home to three charter public schools: SOAR Academy (elementary), Green Dot Destiny (middle) and Summit Olympus (high) school.

Henry Foss High School Henry Foss High School is an American high school in Tacoma, Washington. Named after civic leader and tugboat tycoon Henry Foss, the school first opened in 1973. Foss was the first high school in Washington state to offer the International Ba ...

operates an

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

program. Sheridan Elementary School operated three foreign-language immersion programs (Spanish, French, and Japanese).

Mount Tahoma High School Mount Tahoma High School is a high school in Tacoma, Washington. It opened in 1961 and is a part of the Tacoma Public Schools. The school's mascot is the Thunderbird as a Native American symbolism for power, protection, and strength. History ...

opened a new building in South Tacoma in the fall of 2004.

and Wilson High School were remodeled/refurbished and reopened in September 2006.

Tacoma School of the Arts The Tacoma School of the Arts (SOTA or TSOTA) is the only arts school in the greater Tacoma, Washington, area. SOTA historically only housed grades 10 through 12, but beginning in the 2012 school year, it began admitting students in the 9th grade ...

, opened in 2001 in downtown Tacoma, is an arts-focused high school that serves as a national model for educational innovation. SOTA is a public school, part of the Tacoma Public Schools, and is one of the nation's first schools to implement standards-based instruction, influencing the design of many schools in the nation. SOTA is in multiple venues around Downtown Tacoma and uses Community Museums and Universities for instructional space. In 2009, SOTA's staff expanded to a second, STEM-based high school located in

, the Science and Math Institute (SAMI). In 2017, the school district opened a third non-traditional high school in the same vein as SAMI and SOTA, called

iDEA In philosophy and in common usage, an idea (from the Greek word: ἰδέα (idea), meaning 'a form, or a pattern') is the results of thought. Also in philosophy, ideas can also be mental representational images of some object. Many philosophe ...

(Industrial Design, Engineering, and Art) in south Tacoma. SAMI and SOTA are the only schools in Tacoma to offer University of Washington in the Classroom college credit options from the University of Washington. Lincoln High School reopened in the fall of 2007 after a $75 million renovation and expansion. Annie Wright School pano

Other school districts with territory covering parts of Tacoma are:

Clover Park School District The Clover Park School District (CPSD) is the fourth largest school district in Pierce County, Washington, United States, and the 28th largest public school district in the state. Location The Clover Park School District is located directly sou ...

, Fife Public Schools, Franklin Pierce School District, and University Place School District. The area also has numerous private schools, including Evergreen Lutheran High School, the Annie Wright Schools,

Bellarmine Preparatory School Bellarmine Preparatory School is a private Catholic co-educational high school run by the USA West Province of the Society of Jesus in Tacoma, Washington. It is located in the Archdiocese of Seattle. Today, it serves just over 900 students fro ...

, Life Christian Academy,

Charles Wright Academy Charles Wright Academy is a coed private college preparatory school in University Place, Washington, offering Preschool to Grade 12. CWA is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Northwest Association of Inde ...

, Covenant High School, and Parkland Lutheran School. Tacoma's institutions of higher learning include the

Tacoma Community College Tacoma Community College (TCC) is a public community college in Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle ...

, City University of Seattle-Tacoma,

Bates Technical College Bates Technical College is a public technical college in Tacoma, Washington. The college offers Associate of Applied Science degrees, academic certificates, and industry certifications. Bates is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Col ...

Corban University Corban University is a private Christian university in Salem, Oregon, United States. There are about 1,000 full-time students enrolled on the Salem campus and 2,800 worldwide. Athletically, it is a member of the National Association of Interco ...

School of Ministry/Tacoma Campus, as well as satellite campuses of

The Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a ...

and the

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

is in Parkland, just south of the city; nearby Lakewood is the home of Clover Park Technical College and Pierce College.

Arts and culture

The Tacoma city government adopted a

percent for art The term percent for art refers to a program, often a city ordinance, where a fee, usually some percentage of the project cost, is placed on large scale development projects in order to fund and install public art. The details of such programs va ...

ordinance in 1975 to allocate one percent of construction costs on major projects towards the commissioning or purchase of

public artwork Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

. The program was repealed in 1985 following controversy over the use of

neon art Neon lighting consists of brightly glowing, electrified glass tubes or bulbs that contain rarefied neon or other gases. Neon lights are a type of cold cathode gas-discharge light. A neon tube is a sealed glass tube with a metal electrode a ...

in the

. It was managed by the Tacoma Arts Commission and later a combined city–council arts commission, but was not enforced for most of its existence. By 1986, the city had 136 pieces of public artwork. The percent for art program was reinstated in March 2000. * The

has a structure standing near the Thea Foss Waterway; the steel cone of the hot shop (glassblowing studio) is one of the most recognizable structures in the city. It is connected to the rest of the Museum District by the Bridge of Glass, which features works by Tacoma native glass artist

Dale Chihuly Dale Chihuly ( ; born September 20, 1941) is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is well known in the field of Glassblowing, blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture". Early life Dale Patrick Chihuly was born on ...

. * LeMay-

opened in June 2012 and displays 300 vehicles in various exhibits on vintage to modern automobiles. The museum pays respects to Harold LeMay's collection, one of the world's largest, with a permanent display entitled "Lucky's Garage". The rest of Harold LeMay's collection can be viewed at the Marymount Event Center, home of the

LeMay Family Collection Foundation The LeMay Family Collection Foundation was born out of Harold LeMay's dream of keeping his massive car collection together and in a place where others could appreciate it. Separate from America's Car Museum in downtown Tacoma, the LeMay Family Col ...

. *

was founded in 1935 and reopened in 2003 in a new building on Pacific Avenue in Tacoma – forming the "museum district" with the Museum of Glass and

. It is considered a model for mid-sized regional museums. * Foss Waterway Seaport is a heritage museum that features hands-on displays, a wooden boat shop, as well as a functional dock. The Museum houses the greatest collection of marine history in the South Sound. The seaport museum today is equal parts education facility, boat shop, maritime museum, dock, moorage, and iconic events venue. *

Fort Nisqually, the first globally connected settlement on the Puget Sound, was established in 1833 by the Hudson's Bay Company as a fur trading outpost. Originally located in what is now DuPont, WA. The Fort you see today was reconstructed in the 1930s by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Civic-minded citizens preserved and donated two of the original structures, the Factor's House and Granary, to the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma. The museum gives residents and visitors a chance to experience what life was like on Puget Sound in 1855. * Buffalo Soldiers Museums The museum presents varied accounts of the many challenges and triumphs of the brave African American men who served their country and helped to build and strengthen the Western Frontier with integrity, devotion and pride. The museum is one of only two of its kind in the country dedicated to honoring the Buffalo Soldiers, the other being the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston. *

s (WSHM), is a part of The Washington State Historical Society, the WSHM partners with our communities to explore how history connects us all. *

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) is located in Tacoma, Washington, US and is the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest, PDZA is owned by Metro Parks Tacoma. Situated on in Tacoma's Point Defiance Park, the zoo and aquariu ...

, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium (PDZA) is the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest. It is nationally accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), which ensures rigorously high standards of animal welfare, veterinary care, conservation, education and more. The Zoo sits within 700-acre Point Defiance Park, offering views of Mount Rainier, the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound. PDZA is operated by Metro Parks Tacoma, the oldest independent park district in Washington. Pantages Theater

* Tacoma Arts Live is home to three theaters, two of which are on the National Register of Historic Places. They are home to the Tacoma Opera, Tacoma Symphony Orchestra, Northwest Sinfionetta, Tacoma City Ballet, Tacoma Concert Band, Tacoma Philharmonic, Tacoma Youth Symphony, Theatre Northwest, and Puget Sound Revels (one of ten Revels organizations nationwide). * The Tacoma Film Festival takes place annually at the Grand Cinema. * Tacoma is home to the first modern legal American Cannabis Farmers Market, marijuana farmers' market and also the home to the first needle and syringe programmes in the nation. * The Tacoma farmers' market runs every Thursday, from May through October, in the Theatre District; it was established in 1990. There is also a seasonal farmers' market in the Proctor District (along Sixth Avenue (Tacoma), Sixth Avenue). * Tacoma hosts part of the annual four-part The Daffodil Festival, Daffodil Parade, which takes place every April in Tacoma, Puyallup, Washington, Puyallup, Sumner, Washington, Sumner, and Orting, Washington, Orting. * Shakespeare in the Parking Lot performs the works of William Shakespeare in non-traditional venues and provides theatre education

Mass media

The city's daily newspaper is ''The News Tribune'', which has a circulation of about 85,000 (100,000 on Sundays), making it the state's third-largest newspaper. ''The News Tribune'' was first published on June 17, 1918, as the result of a merger between two competing daily newspapers: ''The Daily News'', started in 1883; and ''The Tacoma Daily Tribune'', started in 1908. The newspaper remained under local ownership until 1986, when it was sold to McClatchy Newspapers. The E. W. Scripps Company published a competing daily, ''The Tacoma Times'', from 1903 to 1949. Other local newspapers include the ''Tacoma Weekly'', the legal paper ''Tacoma Daily Index'', and the alternative newsweekly ''Weekly Volcano''. The

is served by ''The Ledger'', a weekly student newspaper. Media in Seattle, Tacoma's media market is shared with Seattle. Four television stations are licensed to the city: KCPQ 13 (Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox), KSTW 11 (Independent station (North America), Independent), KTBW-TV 20 (Trinity Broadcasting Network, TBN), and KWDK 56 (Daystar (TV network), Daystar); with the exception of KSTW, all stations are Owned-and-operated station, owned-and-operated by their respective networks.

owns the city's PBS member station, KBTC-TV 28, which serves as the market's secondary PBS station. The city government also runs its own government-access television station, TV Tacoma, broadcasting its meetings and other local affairs. Nine radio stations are licensed to Tacoma, with two AM stations and seven FM stations; the latter includes NPR affiliates KNKX and KVTI. KNKX was owned and operated by

as KPLU-FM until 2016, when public outcry over a planned sale of the station to the University of Washington resulted in its transition to a community licensee instead; KVTI, owned by Clover Park Technical College, was run by college students until its operation was outsourced to Northwest Public Broadcasting of Washington State University in 2010. Another station involved in campus radio is KUPS, which is run by students at the

Sports

The

is the city's main sports venue and opened in 1983. It hosts traveling sports and other events, such as pro-wrestling, figure-skating tours, and tours by the Harlem Globetrotters. For the 1994–95 season, the Tacoma Dome hosted home games of both the National Basketball Association's Seattle SuperSonics (as the Seattle Center Coliseum was under renovation) and the American Professional Soccer League's Seattle Sounders (1994–2008), Seattle Sounders. The Tacoma Dome also hosted the 1988 and 1989 Women's NCAA Final Four. The city has hosted several now-defunct minor-league ice hockey, hockey franchises. The Tacoma Rockets (1946–1953), original Tacoma Rockets played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League from 1946 to 1953.

The Tacoma Rockets, Rockets were resurrected in the Western Hockey League in 1991 at the Tacoma Dome to record crowds, before Kelowna Rockets, moving to Kelowna, British Columbia in 1995. Filling this void, the Tacoma Sabercats formed in the now-defunct West Coast Hockey League in 1997

, winning 1998–99 WCHL season, a title in 1999, and closed their doors in 2002 for financial reasons. Cheney Stadium is home to the Tacoma Rainiers, a Triple-A (baseball), AAA minor league baseball team affiliated with the nearby Seattle Mariners since 1995. Minor-league baseball in the city began with the 1903–05 Tacoma Tigers of the then-independent Pacific Coast League (PCL), who were resurrected in the Western International League and played from 1922 until 1951, winning three titles. Following the construction of Cheney Stadium, the Tacoma Giants returned to the PCL in 1960 and were later renamed to the Rainiers. Both the Tacoma Dome and Cheney Stadium hosted events during the 1990 Goodwill Games, an international multi-sport competition. Tacoma has also had a long history with soccer. In men's outdoor soccer, the city is currently represented in the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, third-division MLS Next Pro by the Tacoma Defiance, reserve team of MLS's Seattle Sounders FC. The Defiance were founded in 2015 in the USL Championship in nearby Tukwila, Washington, but have been operated jointly with the Rainiers out of Cheney Stadium since 2019. The city's first professional soccer team were the Tacoma Tides, who played one season in 1976 in the American Soccer League (1933–1983), American Soccer League. This team was resurrected in 2006 as the Tacoma Tide in the USL PDL, playing primarily in nearby Sumner, Washington. The Tide were folded into the Sounders organization as their U-23 team in 2012, and played until folding in 2019. In women's outdoor soccer, Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League played their home games at Cheney Stadium during the 2019, 2020, and 2021 seasons. The Reign considered plans to build a soccer-specific stadium in Tacoma, but ultimately returned to Seattle in 2022. In 1983, Tacoma's entry into indoor soccer, the Tacoma Stars, began play in the Tacoma Dome as part of the Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), Major Indoor Soccer League. The Tacoma Stars (MISL), original Stars folded in 1992, but were reformed in 2003 in the Professional Arena Soccer League. Since 2015, the new Stars have played in the Major Arena Soccer League at the ShoWare Center in nearby Kent, Washington. Tacoma is home to the all-female flat track roller derby league Dockyard Derby Dames, which fields an away team. Many golf clubs and courses are located in Tacoma including Lake Spanaway Golf Course.

Transportation

Tacoma's system of transportation is based primarily on the automobile. The majority of the city has a system of street grid, gridded streets oriented in relation to A Street (one block east of Pacific Avenue) and 6th Avenue or Division Avenue, both beginning in downtown Tacoma. Within the city, and with a few exceptions, east-to-west streets are numbered and north-to-south streets are given a name or a letter. Some east-to-west streets are also given names, such as S. Center St. and N. Westgate Blvd. Streets are generally labeled "North", "South", "East", or "North East" according to their relationship with 6th Avenue or Division Avenue (west of 'Division Ave', '6th Avenue' is the lowest-numbered street, making it the dividing street between "North" and "South"), 'A Street' (which is the dividing line between "East" and "South"), or 1st Street NE (which is the dividing line between "East" and "North East"). This can lead to confusion, as most named streets intersect streets of the same number in both north and south Tacoma. For example, the intersection of South 11th Street and South Union Avenue is just ten blocks south of North 11th Street and North Union Avenue. To the east of the Thea Foss waterway and 'A Street', streets are similarly divided into "East" and "Northeast", with 1st Street NE being in-line with the Pierce–King county line. "North East" covers a small wedge of Tacoma and unincorporated Pierce County (around Browns Point and Dash Point) lying on the hill across the tideflats from downtown. Tacoma does have some major roads which do not seem to follow any naming rules. These roads include Schuster Pkwy, Pacific Ave, Puyallup Ave, Tacoma Mall Blvd, Marine View Dr (SR 509), and Northshore Pkwy. Tacoma also has some major roads which appear to change names in different areas (most notable are Tyler St/Stevens St, Oakes St/Pine St/Cedar St/Alder St, and S. 72nd St/S. 74th St). These major Arterial road, arterials actually shift over to align with other roads, which causes them to have the name changed. This numeric system extends to the furthest reaches of unincorporated Pierce County (with roads outside of the city carrying "East", "West", "North West", and "South West", except on the Key Peninsula, which retains the north–south streets but chooses the Pierce–Kitsap county line as the zero point for east–west streets. Until 2018, Key Peninsula's roads also carried a "KP N" or "KP S" ("Key Peninsula North" or "Key Peninsula South") designation at the end of the street name. From 2018, these designations have switched to "NW" and "SW" respectively. In portions of the city dating back to the Tacoma Streetcar Period (1888–1938), denser mixed-use business districts exist alongside single family homes. Twelve such districts have active, city-recognized business associations and hold "small town"-style parades and other festivals. The Proctor, Proctor District, Tacoma, Old Town, Dome, Sixth Avenue (Tacoma), 6th Avenue, Stadium District, Tacoma, Washington, Stadium, Lincoln Business District, and South Tacoma Business Districts are some of the more prominent of these and coordinate their efforts to redevelop urban villages through the Cross District Association of Tacoma. In newer portions of the city to the west and south, residential cul-de-sac, culs-de-sac, four-lane collector roads and indoor shopping centers are more commonplace.

Roads and highways

Seven highways end in or pass through Tacoma: I-5 (WA), I-5, I-705, Washington State Route 7, SR 7, Washington State Route 16, SR 16, Washington State Route 163, SR 163, Washington State Route 167, SR 167, and Washington State Route 509, SR 509. The dominant intercity transportation link between Tacoma and other parts of the Puget Sound is Interstate 5 (Washington), Interstate 5, which links Tacoma with

to the north and

, to the south. It bisects the city for and has several overpasses for pedestrians and cross-traffic. Washington State Route 16, State Route 16 runs along a concrete viaduct through Tacoma's Nalley Valley, connecting Interstate 5 with Central and West Tacoma, the

, and the

Aviation

Seattle–Tacoma International Airport lies north, in the city of SeaTac, Washington, SeaTac. The city of Tacoma contributed $100,000 to the airport's construction, in return for it being constructed at Bow Lake (SeaTac, Washington), Bow Lake. The other proposed location near Lake Sammamish is much further from Tacoma, while Bow Lake is halfway between Seattle and Tacoma. A seaplane service with tours of the Tacoma area is operated by Kenmore Air from a dock near Old Town. It was started in August 2023 as part of a partnership with the Puyallup Tribe; Kenmore also plans to offer flights from the dock to other destinations in the region.

Public transportation

Tacoma has a public transportation network that includes buses, commuter rail,

, and ferries. Public bus service is primarily provided by Pierce Transit, which serves Tacoma and most of urban Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County. Pierce Transit operates 38 bus routes using a fleet of more than 200 buses powered by compressed natural gas, diesel, and electric batteries. Bus service generally operates at 30–60 minute frequencies on weekdays; prior to service cuts in 2021, several trunk routes had service every 15 to 20 minutes on weekdays. The busiest Pierce Transit bus route, serving the Pacific Avenue corridor, was planned to be upgraded into a bus rapid transit line by 2022, at a cost of $150 million. Significant cost increases during the COVID-19 pandemic caused Pierce Transit to pause the construction of the bus rapid transit line, named the Stream Community Line, and instead launch a limited-stop "enhanced bus" on the corridor in 2024. The city's main train and bus station is Tacoma Dome Station, a multimodal hub near the

southeast of downtown. The station is also served by Sounder commuter rail trains to Seattle and intercity Amtrak trains on both the ''Amtrak Cascades, Cascades'' and ''Coast Starlight''. Sound Transit, the regional transit authority, operates Sounder, the T Line (part of the Link light rail system), and daily Sound Transit Express bus service to and from Seattle. The T Line connects Tacoma Dome Station to Downtown Tacoma, the University of Washington campus, and the Hilltop neighborhood. Sound Transit plans to extend the Tacoma Link light rail further west towards

along South 19th Street by 2039 or 2041. The Washington State Ferries system, which has a dock at Point Defiance Park, Point Defiance, provides Point Defiance–Tahlequah ferry, automobile ferry access to Tahlequah, Washington, Tahlequah at the southern tip of Vashon Island. Proposals for a passenger-only ferry linking Downtown Tacoma to Seattle have been studied since the 2010s but remain unrealized.

Public utilities

Tacoma's relationship with public utilities extends back to 1893. At that time the city was undergoing a boom in population, causing it to exceed the available amount of fresh water supplied by Charles B. Wright's Tacoma Light & Water Company. In response to both this demand and a growing desire to have local public control over the utility system, the city council put up a public vote to acquire and expand the private utility. The measure passed on July 1, 1893, with 3,195 in favor of acquiring the utility system and 1,956 voting against. Since then, Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) has grown from a small water and light utility to be the largest department in the city's government, employing about 1,200 people.

, a division of TPU, provides residents of Tacoma and several bordering municipalities with electrical power generated by eight hydroelectric dams on the Skokomish River and elsewhere. Environmentalists, fishermen, and the Skokomish Tribe have criticized TPU's operation of Cushman Dam on the North Fork of the Skokomish River; the tribe's $6 billion claim was denied by the U.S. Supreme court in January 2006. The capacity of Tacoma's hydroelectric system as of 2004 was 713,000 kilowatts, or about 50% of the demand made up by TPU's customers (the rest is purchased from other utilities). According to TPU, hydroelectricity provides about 87% of Tacoma's power; coal 3%; natural gas 1%; nuclear 9%; and biomass and wind at less than 1%. Tacoma Power also operates the Click! Network, a municipally owned cable television and internet service. The residential cost per kilowatt hour of electricity is just over 6 cents. Tacoma Water provides customers in its service area with water from the Green River (Duwamish River), Green River Watershed. As of 2004, Tacoma Water provided water services to 93,903 customers. The average annual cost for residential supply was $257.84. Tacoma Rail, initially a municipally owned street railway line running to the tideflats, was converted to a common-carrier rail switching utility. Tacoma Rail is self-supporting and employs over 90 people. In addition to municipal garbage collection, Tacoma offers commingled recycling services for paper, cardboard, plastics, and metals.

Notable people

* Pat Austin, drag racer * Zach Banner, NFL player * Calvin S. Barlow, Tacoma pioneer * Alice D. Engley Beek, painter * Tucker Bone, soccer player * Avery Bradley, NBA player * Richard Brautigan, novelist, poet, and short story writer * Jeff Brotman, attorney * Brandon Brown (basketball, born 1989), Brandon Brown (born 1989), basketball player for Hapoel Jerusalem B.C., Hapoel Jerusalem of the Israeli Basketball Premier League * Angela Warnick Buchdahl (born 1972), rabbi * Ted Bundy, serial killer * Jose Calugas, Medal of Honor recipient * Dyan Cannon, actress * Jerry Cantrell, guitarist * Neko Case, musician *

, glass sculptor * Pat Comfort, politician * Robert Cray, guitarist and singer * Bing Crosby, singer and actor * Elinor Donahue, actress * Joseph Edward Duncan, serial killer and child molester * Clinton P. Ferry, Tacoma pioneer and founder, known as the Duke of Tacoma * Malachi Flynn, basketball player for the Detroit Pistons * David Friesen, musician * Abdul Gaddy, basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League * Kathryn O. Galbraith, writer of children's books * Cam Gigandet, actor * Frank Herbert, author * Abby Williams Hill, artist * Eleanor Janega, medieval historian, author, broadcaster * Jo Koy, comedian * Ron Magden, historian * Gary Larson, cartoonist * John Lippman, television executive and the acting director of Voice of America * Lawyer Milloy, New England Patriots/ Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl Champion * KC Montero, actor * Pamela Reed, actress * Kelee Ringo, college football player for the Georgia Bulldogs football, Georgia Bulldogs * Darrell Robinson, track and field athlete * John Henry Ryan, businessman, newspaperman, and state legislator * Homer Screws, former professional soccer player, and now coach * Jessica Spring American letterpress printer, book artist * Courtney Stodden, media personality * Swerve Strickland, Professional Wrestler * Lucy Stedman Lamson, businesswoman, educator * Jeff Stock, soccer player and businessman * Michael Swango, serial killer * Miesha Tate, MMA Champion * Isaiah Thomas (basketball), Isaiah Thomas, NBA player * Aaron Titlow, lawyer, politician, and real estate developer; the original owner of Titlow Beach * Desmond Trufant, NFL player * Blair Underwood, actor * Jessica Wallenfels, actress, choreographer, and movement/theatre director

Sister cities

Tacoma's sister cities are: * Kitakyushu, Japan (1959) * Gunsan, South Korea (1978) * Ålesund Municipality, Ålesund, Norway (1986) * Vladivostok, Russia (1992) * Fuzhou, China (1994) * Davao City, Philippines (1994) * George Local Municipality, George, South Africa (1997) * Cienfuegos, Cuba (2000) * Taichung, Taiwan (2000) * El Jadida, Morocco (2007) * Biot, Alpes-Maritimes, Biot, France (2012) * Boca del Río, Veracruz, Boca del Río, Mexico (2016) * Brovary, Ukraine (2017)

Notes

References

External links

Official city website

Tacoma Regional Convention and Visitor BureauAlvin H. Waite Photography Collection
Prolific Photographer of Tacoma; University of Washington Library {{Authority control Tacoma, Washington, 1864 establishments in Washington Territory Cities in Pierce County, Washington Cities in the Seattle metropolitan area County seats in Washington (state) Port settlements in Washington (state) Populated places established in 1864 Populated places on Puget Sound Ukrainian communities in the United States Washington (state) placenames of Native American origin