Why Tacoma failed at becoming Washington's major city
At one point it was the clear front runner
A few weeks back I made a video, and wrote an article here, on why Astoria, Oregon never became a major city in the Pacific Northwest despite having all the necessary ingredients. In the comments of that video (and I believe here) many people mentioned Tacoma as having a similar story. I knew a bit about Tacoma’s history, but all the comments definitely lead me to dig a bit deeper, and, oh boy did Tacoma really screw up its chances at becoming THE city in Washington state. So how did they manage that? Read (or watch) on!
As usual, the answer, as with many cities, starts with the physical geography. If you’re not at all familiar with Washington state, you should know one thing: the Puget Sound is where the vast majority of the state’s population lives. And this region has one of the most unique landscapes in the United States, shaped by ancient glaciers that carved deep waterways into the terrain. This means that the Puget Sound is home to some very deep natural harbors which made it an ideal location for settlement and trade, especially with two massive mountain ranges (the Olympics to the west and the Cascades to the east) framing the region. Tacoma, positioned along Commencement Bay, had every reason to succeed at this very early moment in time.
You might think that Seattle had all the same opportunities as well, but that’s not actually true! During the same time, Seattle was little more than a salty mud pile. At one point the city basically rebuilt itself 20 feet higher than it is today to improve drainage over what was then large tidal flats. Essentially, the Seattle of the 1800s was not nearly as picturesque as the one that exists today.
Of course, in the 1800s, Washington’s economic future was shaped by its vast natural resources. Indigenous groups like the Puyallup and Duwamish thrived on the region’s salmon-rich waters long before European fur traders arrived. But by the mid-1800s, logging became the dominant industry, and towns along the Puget Sound flourished. Tacoma and Seattle, both strategically located for timber and maritime trade, grew rapidly. It was at this point that Tacoma seemed to have sealed its fate as the state’s IT city when the Northern Pacific Railroad designated it as its western terminus in 1873. Seattle was not even planned to be connected! Yu see, railroads were the economic lifeblood of the time, and this decision should have ensured Tacoma’s place as the dominant city of Washington. But it didn’t.
Seattle, unwilling to be left behind, fought aggressively for its own rail connections, securing a link to the transcontinental network by 1884. This put Seattle back in the race, but Tacoma still had an advantage, until 1893, when an economic depression bankrupted the Northern Pacific. The instability of Tacoma’s key rail link weakened the city’s standing, while Seattle continued to grow.
The final blow came in 1897 with the Klondike Gold Rush. Seattle, quick to recognize the opportunity, branded itself as the “Gateway to Alaska” and launched an aggressive marketing campaign that cemented its economic dominance. Tacoma, slow to react, failed to capture a share of the gold rush economy. Political infighting within the city only compounded the problem.
By the early 1900s, Tacoma had lost its momentum. Seattle’s booming economy attracted more investment, and by 1910, it had nearly tripled Tacoma’s population. The shift in economic power continued through the 1900y, as Seattle became a hub for aerospace (Boeing), technology (Microsoft and Amazon), and global trade. Tacoma, while still an important port city, never managed to catch up.
Today, Tacoma is a significant part of the Seattle metropolitan area, but its population of around 222,000 pales in comparison to Seattle’s 755,000. The city remains an important cultural and economic hub in Washington, but its dreams of surpassing Seattle faded over a century ago. If not for a few key moments in history, Tacoma’s story (and Washington’s largest city) might have looked very different.
There’s more to say including ports, labor unions, and even Portland, Oregon’s role in all this, but I’m trying to keep these articles a little bit more concise these days so check out the video above if you want to learn about that!
Sometimes first it not always the best.