Category Archives: Non Profits

Haunted Tacoma – Children’s Industrial Home Site

I had it in my head to look for a place that is allegedly haunted for my new place. So I googled Tacoma and Haunted and found the former site of the Children’s Industrial Home (an orphanage). The orphanage which had been on the site was constructed 1904 at a cost of $7,500.  The building looked like a mansion and held up to thirty children.  It was called the “Home on the Hill”.

In September of 1944 the furnace and the boiler in the building’s basement exploded and thankfully none of the children were seriously hurt, though two of the adults were injured. A TPL photo of the damage can be found here.

And another photo of the original building and some of the darling children can be found here.

The insurance company declared the building a complete loss and it was torn down.  A new facility was constructed on the site later. The youthful occupants of the current site complain about hearing crying at one end of the “new” building and adult staff members have reported seeing ghosts of children playing around the building.

More history of the facility can be found here.

Respecting the privacy of the current facility, I snapped a photo of a lone tree towards the top of the hill away from the buildings.

 

 

Celebrating Summer at the Proctor Farmer’s Market

Although it is September, Summer seems to be here still. Perhaps to make up for its very late arrival this year! The Proctor Farmer’s Market was packed with cheerful folks in the summer outfits. I strolled from one end to another and came away with a flat of blackberries (soon to be cobbler), organic pumpkin dog treats which the dogs love, zucchini, corn and pop in your mouth delicious cherry tomatoes.

The market will be open until November 19th and operates between the hours of 9 – 2.  There website is here http://www.proctorfarmersmarket.com/

 

Big Lemon

Wednesday’s new place is the City of Fife’s bright yellow ALCO C-415 Engine, which is housed adjacent to the Fife History Museum in the Dacca Park.  The engine is one of 26 sold and 4 still remaining.  Apparently they were considered “lemons” because of a design flaw. To read more, go to:

http://www.cityoffife.org/?p=online_guide&a=visitors&b=things_to_do&c=fife_engine_and_caboose


Monorail & EMP

Monorail & EMP by Gexydaf

On Tuesday we did another Seattle day and visited the EMP Museum, which has two main components, the EMP (Electronic Music Project and the SFM (Science Fiction Museum). The museum is located in the Seattle Center near the Space Needle. Because of time restraints, we only did justice to the SFM. I loved the Battlestar Galactica exhibit. It reminded me how much I had enjoyed the series, And the Avatar exhibit was pretty cool too!

http://www.empmuseum.org/index.asp

 

Habitat for Humanity Store

Funny story… I’m in the car with my husband and he says let’s go to the Habitat Restore in the Port. Oh boy! I’ve been wanting to see the new estuary nature place that I read about! I was pretty excited that dear husband would suggest it. That’s the spirit of adventure!

And then we pulled up here at the Habitat for Humanity Store at 505 Puyallup Ave., Tacoma, WA 98421. Oh, I see. We need bathroom tiles. No, really its OK. I just had my heart set on seeing ducks!

In actuality the Habitat for Humanity Store is very cool and I’ve been meaning to go there. Folks donate building materials (doors, lighting fixtures, tile, cabinets, mirrors, etc.) and other folks buy them. Habitat makes a little money for their most excellent work. We walked out with some tiles, groat, and a ceramic soap dish to go in the shower. No ducks.

I guess I can do the Habitat for Humanity store again in the future because they are moving to South Tacoma Way and the building is available for lease.

More information about the local Habitat for Humanity is here: http://www.tpc-habitat.org/

The building is on the site of Joe Zehnder’s First & Last Chance Saloon, sadly now demolished. The current building was constructed in 1926 as the Stevens & Vetter, Inc. Garage / Fageol Motor Sales Co. and had been used as warehousing for the adjacent railroad. Although the building has been renovated over the years I can still see the original structure in the roof line. Look here to see the building as it was in 1928: http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1image.asp?j=1&o=5&n=24097&i=9072#text

Vintage Wheels at LeMay Family Collection

There are over 500 vintage vehicles at the LeMay Family Collection at 325 152nd Street East, Tacoma, WA 98445. Our family signed up for the 1:00 tour and I figured it would be over by 2:00 so the next group could begin. But they must stagger tours because ours went until 3:30! The tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students and kids under 5 are free. A tour guide takes the groups through, which is great because he was happy to talk about the cars, tell stories about how they came to be at LeMay and answer questions!.

Their literature says that they have the largest privately owned vehicle and memorabilia collection in the world. I believe it! Instead of writing more, I’m just going to post a bunch of photos 🙂

The LeMay website can be found here: http://www.lemaymuseum.org/

The Grand Cinema, another thing that makes Tacoma great!

I’ve been wanting to see the Woody Allen’s new movie Midnight in Paris and today was the day.  It is playing exclusively at the Grand Cinema at 606 South Fawcett Avenue, Tacoma, WA and that is great, since it is one of my favorite theaters.  It was a wonderful movie that made me want to book a ticket to Paris right away.  I was especially glad to see it since my book group is reading Tender is the Night this year and F.  Scott Fitzgerald is one of the characters in the film.

To see more about the movie, go here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1605783/

The Grand Cinema is a nonprofit, art house theater and its mission is to enhance the cultural vitality of the community through the art of film.   Their selection of movies is very thoughtful and they show films that often just aren’t available any place else in Pierce County.  In addition their theaters are comfortable, the snacks extra good and the mostly volunteer staff is excellent!

The Grand’s website is here:

http://www.grandcinema.com/

 

Smiling Carrot at the Olympia Farmer’s Market

Smiling Carrot by Gexydaf
Smiling Carrot, a photo by Gexydaf on Flickr.

I love the Olympia Farmer’s Market — the vendors, the food booths, the entertainment, the quirky art. I especially love it in the summer with everybody in their summer garb. We purchase my daughter’s favorite type of apple and ate at Curry In.

St. Vincent de Paul Mural


Tacoma is a city full of interesting murals, many of them recent. The mural on the St. Vincent de Paul Thrift Store Building (5009 South 56th Street) had Christopher Jordan & Kenji Stoll as the lead artists and was installed in the fall of 2010.

Here is an interesting article on some of the new murals. http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/09/05/1328964/painted-revival.html

Radio Club of Tacoma

 


 

Today the Radio Club of Tacoma was kind enough to host a bunch of us newly minted ham radio operators. While there, they offered us some hints on buying equipment and a tour of their clubhouse, which is filled with wonderful equipment, both newish and antique.  Outside is a huge antenna and several smaller ones too.

http://www.w7dk.org/rctmain-2.htm