I had already taken a photo of the largest flag in Tacoma (Tacoma Screw’s flag), so this recently passed 4th of July I went looking for another large flag. My friend recommended the flag at Griot’s Garage, Inc., 3333 South 38th St., Tacoma, WA 98409. Well OK then. They do indeed have a mighty display with one big American flag and several smaller decorative flags. Griot’s itself is worthy of an altogether different blog entry, so I’ll stop here.
I took a break from my fireworks nervous dogs today to see the region’s largest U.S. Flag at Tacoma Screw, 2001 Center Street. It weighs 150 pounds and is the largest U.S. flag west of Wisconsin and north of Sacramento. The measurements are 80’x40′ and the pole is 180 feet tall, which is 90 feet above the adjacent Highway 16. In comparison, the largest U.S. flag is located in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and is 120’x60′.
Tacoma Screw commissioned the flag as a way to celebrate their 70th year in business and to give back to the community.
It was a little difficult to photograph and to give a sense of the sheer size of the flag. I started at Tacoma Screw and then moved up to Irving Park to capture it from above. The full summer hillside at the edge of the park didn’t provide a full view, but finally some people came by and I had my shot that showed scale (thanks people!).
A short video can be found here. IMG_1099
Dear husband and I were on our way to a movie in Puyallup’s South Hill area when we passed this delightful display! Fireworks are illegal in Tacoma (not that that seems to stop folks), but there are stands surrounding the city and this is one of the larger ones.
In the 4300 block of Pacific Avenue, there is a private house with an outside table and two chairs in the front yard. One of the chairs is always occupied by a manikin and that manikin is always dressed for the season or holiday. Yesterday, July 4th, he was wearing his northwest summer gardening outfit (overalls, flannel shirt, hat) and on the table was a patriotic bucket with red, white and blue flowers and a flag. It reminds me of the Holiday house on South 9th, near Sprague, only its more subdued.