The Islamic Center of Tacoma is located at 2010 Bridgeport Way, University Place. I thought I’d find a bit more about them on the internet, but their website is down. Their Facebook page is here.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Islamic-Center-Of-Tacoma/187098864649904
The Tacoma Public Library’s Northwest Room indicates that this is the second Islamic Center in Washington. The stucco building was constructed in 1981 and dedicated in 1982.
We went to Patty’s Burgers for milkshakes and I admired the light reflecting off the steeple of the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at 3314 South 58th Street, Tacoma. The church was dedicated in 1913, the school in 1924 and the addition to the school in 1949.
Monday dear daughter and I went to see a movie produced by a classmates of hers. The premier showing was at Tacoma’s First Presbyterian Church at 20 Tacoma Avenue South in the Stadium District. The church was founded in 1873 to meet the needs of the settlers. This is the church’s third location with the construction was completed in 1925 at a cost of $500,000. Per their website says “A masterpiece of Romanesque architecture, it was designed by famous church architect Ralph Adams Cram and is rich in Christian symbolism expressed in stone, wood, glass and mosaic”. The congregation’s website is here www.fpctacoma.com/
Today I went to say goodbye to a friend at Immanuel Presbyterian Church at 901 North J Street in Tacoma. The church, which was constructed in 1909, is beautiful with its mission styling and stained glass windows. It’s long history is explained on the congregation’s website http://www.ipctacoma.org/about.php?id=4
The theater then church at 5441 South M Street has seen better days. It was constructed in 1924 as an early movie theater with 500 seats. Their first movie was Lights Out. On October 6, 1930 there was extensive damage when a bomb went off (there must be a story there!). Per the Tacoma Public Library, Kurt Cobain and the rock band Skid Row (later Nirvana) played their first public show here! Online information indicates that Templo Maranatha now owns the space.
Go here to see photographs of the property when it was new, http://search.tacomapubliclibrary.org/buildings/bldg1up.asp?n=19979
Thanks Tacoma Public Library!
I love big claims… the world’s best pizza, burgers, etc. I love that Wallingford claims to be the center of the universe and I also love that Tacoma’s First Church of the Nazarene at 3640 South M is the Epicenter of Hope. So on this snowy day I drove over to the church to snap a photo. Their sign says that they have English and Latino Gatherings and that there is a Samoan Service at 2:00 on Sundays.
Seu Ml Sa Temple is located at 227 East 72nd Street has intrigued me for a long time. The grounds are lovely, the statues inspiring and the details on the temple amazing. The temple doesn’t have much of a web presence, but I gather that visitors are welcome at certain times. When I was there a lady came up to me smiling and asked if I was taking photos. I said yes and asked if that was OK and she smiled and said oh yes!
Tacoma has some wonderful, historic church buildings and the Trinity Presbyterian Church at 1615 6th Ave, Tacoma, WA 98405 is one of the best. It is a massive, brick structure that was constructed in 1922 and was originally known as the First United Presbyterian Church.
To read more about the church, go to their website. http://tpctacoma.org/
In honor of Halloween, we visited the Tribal Cemetery at 2002 East 28th Street, Tacoma, adjacent to the Emerald Queen Casino. We didn’t stay long, as dusk was approaching and we didn’t want the gate to lock behind us, but there is so much history there that I would like to go back. The entryway says Tribal Cemetery, but it is also known as Old Puyallup Indian Cemetery, Cushman Indian Cemetery, Puyallup Indian Cemetery and the Puyallup Tribal Cemetery. The best source of information was found on this website http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=223067
The cemetery’s land was formally set aside in 1894, but there are report of the site being used for burial for hundreds of years prior. The cemetery use to be next to the Cushman Indian Hospital, which I remember seeing on the hill. During the 1920s through the 1940s, the hospital tended to many cases of tuberculous and some of those who did not survive the illness are located here, often without their names being known. The cemetery is still in use.
Chief Leschi who died in 1858 is buried here. I hadn’t realized that he was hanged in Lakewood, WA for murder. In 2004, both houses of the Washington state legislature passed resolutions stating that Leschi was wrongly convicted and executed and the state supreme court vacated Leschi’s conviction.
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=5861425
There is a small church located in the cemetery.
Life Center on Union Avenue has devoted a corner of its property to a 9.11 Memorial. On both sides of a freestanding wall people have written their memories and reflections. There are words from children too young to remember the day and from adults that were affected. Some used the preprinted cards and filled in their memories and other brought their own paper.