Tacoma is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, USA, situated on Puget Sound's Commencement Bay, Tacoma Narrows, and the estuary of the Puyallup River. The 2000 census reported Tacoma's population as 193,556; the city's population on Apr. 1, 2004, was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to be 196,800, and a metropolitan area of 750,000 (Trends, No. D3 ).
Tacoma is the home of such international companies as Labor Ready, Inc. and the Russell Investment Group, as well as institutions of higher learning, including Pacific Lutheran University, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma Community College, and the University of Washington, Tacoma. Tacoma is a major international deep-water container port.
The Museum of Glass opened in downtown Tacoma in 2002, showcasing glass art from the region and around the world. It includes a functional glassblowing studio. Tacoma's downtown Cultural District is also the site of the Washington State History Museum (1996) and the Tacoma Art Museum (2003).
One of the largest urban parks in the U.S, Point Defiance Park, which includes the Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Fort Nisqually, is located in Tacoma. Another park in Tacoma is Titlow Beach, which is a popular scuba diving area. Wright Park, located near downtown, is a large, English-style park designed in the late 1800s by E.O. Schwagerl and Ebenezer Rhys Roberts. It contains Wright Park Arboretum.
Beginning in the 1930s, Tacoma became known for its malodorousness, called the "Aroma of Tacoma" -- a distinctive, acrid odor produced by local paper manufacturing on the industrial tide flats. In the late 1990s, however, Simpson Tacoma Kraft reduced total sulfur emissions by 90%, largely eliminating the problem, but a strong smell is occasionally still detectable.
A number of noteworthy individuals have come from Tacoma, among them bowling legend Earl Anthony, singer Bing Crosby, authors Richard Brautigan and Frank Herbert, cartoonist Gary Larson, serial killer Ted Bundy, serial sniper John Allen Muhammad, actress Dyan Cannon, conspiracy gadfly Fred Crisman, Andrew and Thea Foss, first owners and operators of Foss Launch and Tug Company, Puyallup Indian rights activist Robert Satiacum, auto racer Pat Austin, prize fighter Sugar Ray Seales, NFL receiver Ahmad Rashad, Major League baseball player Ron Cey, glass artist Dale Chihuly, and musicians the Wailers, Jerry Miller (Moby Grape), Jerry Cantrell and Neko Case. Chef-author Jeff Smith learned to cook and began his career in Tacoma at the Chaplain's Pantry, later known as the Gourmet Pantry (now closed), on Tacoma Avenue.
Tacoma is located at 47°14'29" North, 122°27'34" West (47.241371, -122.459389). Its elevation is 116 meters (380 feet).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 162.2 km2 (62.6 mi2). 129.7 km2 (50.1 mi2) of it is land and 32.5 km2 (12.5 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 20.01% water.
The census of 2000 indicated that 193,556 persons, 76,152 households, and 45,919 families resided in Tacoma. Four years later, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Tacoma's population had increased by 1.7%, to 196,800 (Trends, No. D3 ).
In 2000, Tacoma's population density was 1,492.3/km2 (3,864.9/mi2). There were 81,102 housing units at an average density of 625.3/km2 (1,619.4/mi2). The racial makeup of the city was 69.08% White, 11.24% African American, 1.96% Native American, 7.57% Asian, 0.93% Pacific Islander, 2.94% from other races, and 6.28% from two or more races. 6.85% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 76,152 households in Tacoma in 2000; 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. Almost one third of households (31.7%) were made up of individuals living alone; 10.4% of these were 65 years of age or older. The average household size in 2000 was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.10.
In 2000, the population's demographics were evenly distributed: 25.8% under 18, 10.4% from 18 to 24, 31.6% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.
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 for the city was $19,130. 15.9% of the population and 11.4% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.6% of those under the age of 18 and 10.9% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.
Tacoma was inhabited for thousands of years by Native American people, predominantly the Puyallup people. It was visited by European and American explorers, including George Vancouver and Charles Wilkes, who named many of the coastal landmarks.
The town was originally settled by pioneer and postmaster Job Carr, a Civil War veteran and land speculator who hoped to profit from the selection of Commencement Bay as the terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad. (A replica of Job Carr's cabin, which also served as Tacoma's first post office, was erected in "Old Town" in 2000 near the original site.).
Tacoma was officially incorporated on November 12, 1875. Its early hopes to live to be the "City of Destiny" were frustrated in the late 19th century, when the discovery of gold in the Klondike turned Seattle into a boom town, eclipsing Tacoma's early lead.
George Francis Train was a resident of Tacoma for a few years in the late 1800s, and was an early civic booster. In 1880, he staged a global circumnavigation starting and ending in Tacoma to promote the city's centrality. A plaque in downtown Tacoma marks the start and finish point.
What came to be known as "Tacoma method" was used in November 1885 to expel several thousand Chinese peaceably living in the city. To quote from the account prepared by the Chinese Reconciliation Project: On the morning of Nov. 3, 1885, "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. The next day two Chinese settlements were burned to the ground."
Tacoma was named after Mount Rainier, whose original name was Tahoma, which derived from the Puyallup tacobet, or "mother of waters."
On April 26, 2003 Tacoma's Chief of Police, David Brame, shot and killed his wife and himself in Gig Harbor, Washington.
Source:
TacomaWashington.com
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