Old Town Tacoma — Uncover the Silenced Voices of 1885

Tacoma was born in 1868 under the impetus of Job Carr, who named the city after Mount Tahoma of the local tribes. Union Station, built in 1911 by Reed & Stem in Beaux-Arts style, raises its 96-meter dome — the tallest on the American West Coast. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, this railway station transformed into a federal courthouse in 1998 welcomes you at the start of your investigation. This is where Chinese immigrants transited to build the Northern Pacific Railway, before the economic crisis of the 1880s fueled racial tensions.

Pacific Avenue crosses the heart of Old Town Tacoma since 1884, paved the year before the anti-Chinese riots. This 1.6 km artery housed 350 wooden buildings destroyed by the 1889 fire, four years after the violence. On November 3, 1885, 500 rioters led by Bliss Stafford converged on the Chinese quarter established along this main avenue. Listed in the Tacoma Historic District, Pacific Avenue still bears the scars of these clashes that drove an entire community into forced exile.

Old City Hall, erected in 1893 by architect Heathcote Kay in Richardsonian Romanesque style, raises its 61-meter tower above the rebuilt city. Listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1979, this building housed the municipal court during the post-riot trials of 1885. It was within these walls that the leaders of anti-Chinese violence were judged — and often acquitted. The municipal belfry rang until 1931, reminding Tacoma of the dark hours of its nascent history.

Thea Foss Waterway, formerly Foss Creek, was dredged and renamed in 1907 after maritime entrepreneur Thea Foss, founder in 1889 of the tugboat company. This 3.2 km waterway, 46 meters wide, witnessed the Chinese expulsions of November 1885. Families driven from Pacific Avenue were forced to board steamers from adjacent docks, under threat from rioters. Cleaned of industrial pollutants in the 1990s, the waterway reopened to navigation in 2001, but the ghosts of 1885 still haunt its shores.

Your journey ends at Chinese Reconciliation Park, inaugurated November 10, 2015 — exactly 130 years after the riots. Designed by Japanese architect Motoaki Hisada on 0.6 hectares, this commemorative park erected on the expulsion site contains the 13-meter Reconciliation Bridge, symbolizing forgiveness and unity. You take from Tacoma the lesson of a city that chose to face its demons rather than bury them, transforming historical shame into living memory for future generations.