Tacoma’s Fire Station #8 at 4301 South L was built in 1909 and ceased being in 2006 when a larger station was constructed nearby. It is now a private residence.
The City of Tacoma placed 11 individual fire related properties (9 stations, 1 ship and an alarm system) on the national historical register in 1983. The nomination form is located here:
http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/64000904.pdf
I hate when I go to find a new place of the day and the building isn’t there! I went to 1602 South G Street in Tacoma to see the vacant Hillside Grocery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building that isn’t there was built in 1889 and burnt to the ground in 7/28/2009. The building began as a Estil K. Christie Grocery Store and residential rooms and over the course of its existence it has also been the Wm. Schnack Grocery Store, Nelson W. Caldwell Grocery Store, Florence Ellis Grocery Store, Thomas F. Ruckman Grocery Store, Burns Grocery Store, Orville L. Cary Grocery Store, Seizaburo Kinoshita Grocery Store, Carl Schievelbein Grocery Store, Corner Grocery Store and most recently as the Hillside Quickie Market. To see the building as it use to be look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Building_at_1602_South_G_Street.jpg
With all the street improvement getting around Pacific Avenue and the Dome District is a little tricky nowadays, but early this morning I did just that. And I was rewarded by this most excellent sighting of a vacant lot on the corner of East 26th & C Street. The lot is full of gas pumps! They are mostly branded Shell and 76. The lot is well secured with a barbed wire fence.
This evening I gathered with friends at the Windmill Bistro in Sumner. We shared a meal catered by Mama Stortini’s and had a splendid speaker. The Bistro is situated in the historic Sandland House and has a very welcoming feel to it. The extra good news is that I can use the Windmill Gardens as a new place of the day some other day and have another meal at the Bistro! I’m already looking forward to it 🙂
http://www.windmillbistro.com/
I went back in 2/14 and took a few more photos, including the windmill!
There is a concrete fountain on the corner of Broadway and South 11th Street in Downtown Tacoma. I really like how the fountain is laid out so that it can be climbed. The fountain use to have a salmon (the Peace Salmon) as part of it, but it isn’t there anymore.
Until today I didn’t know that Port Orchard had a boardwalk! Our family went to Port Orchard to give my dear husband a chance to look at old nicknacks (ummm I mean go through antique malls). But dear daughter and I stretched our legs and found this boardwalk, with real boards and a lovely, lovely view. We walked it to the end, which took under 10 minutes.
It turns out that the City of Port Orchard has some big plans for this little boardwalk. It is to be expanded to the Annapolis ferry facility and become part of the Mosquito Fleet Trail.
The Mosquito Fleet Trail Master Plan states “Mosquito Fleet In the year 1908 twenty-four docks provided passenger and goods transport between Kingston and Southworth along the eastern shoreline of the Kitsap Peninsula. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 1908) The Mosquito Fleet derives its name from the ubiquity of the small steamboats that carried passengers between these docks and across the Puget Sound as common as mosquitoes buzzing through the air. Historians attribute the beginning of the Mosquito Fleet to the year 1853, when the Fairy began service between Olympia and Seattle (Clark, p. 48). At the turn of the century, numerous lines competed against each other, vying for both passengers and goods. The emergence of the automobile had disastrous effects on the Mosquito Fleet. By the mid-1930’s only the Black Ball Line survived. In 1951, Captain Peabody sold what remained of his fleet to the State of Washington, officially ending the era of the Mosquito Fleet.”
http://www.cityofportorchard.us/mosquito-fleet-trail
http://www.kitsapgov.com/mosquito/downloadplan.htm
http://www.kitsapgov.com/mosquito/pdf/mosquito_fleet_plan.pdf
This warm and sunny day I stopped at the corner of South 49th and Fawcett Avenue and captured the lovely street art. I don’t know who painted this street mural in the middle of the intersection, but it is really fun. Based on the hand prints there was at least one kid involved in the art. The center says “Be Here” and I think it says Groovy, but its partially faded away. The Google Earth aerial photo below shows the intersection before the art was in place.
I’ve been meaning to stop at Nalley’s Fine Food at 3303 South 35th Street, Tacoma for a while. When I went to write up it up as the new place of the day, I found an article in today’s newspaper discussing how the company is closing soon. Nalley Valley was named after the Nally’s Fine Food, which was established in 1918. When the plant closes, 160 people will lose their jobs.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/12/04/1451025/nalleys-fine-foods-to-close-after.html
Today’s new place is the recently (maybe today) opened Organic Herbs & Spice Plus Organic Espresso. Located at Organic Spice Traders, 1127 Broadway Plaza, Suite 101, Tacoma, WA 98402. The owner is a nice guy and makes a very tasty organic Americano! The store features a wide variety of spice and herbs as well as the espresso stand. There are also some tables to sit and relax. While I was there I bought a small packet of cinnamon, which I’m sure will be tasty in my morning oatmeal. It is nice to see an interesting new business open up in downtown Tacoma and I wish them well.
http://www.organicspicetraders.com/index.cfm
Update, my daughter told me that the store is closed now. Makes me sad!
The Kilworth Memorial Chapel at the University of Puget Sound was dedicated March 9, 1967. The bell at Kilworth Chapel was cast in 1718 in Sheffield, England and had been a signal bell on the steamship Frontier.
