Northern Fish Company at 2201 Ruston Way in Tacoma has a wonderful setting with Commencement Bay out its back door (if it had a back door!). There are two Northern Fish Co. locations in Tacoma with the other one being at 3911 South 56th. The Ruston Way location not only offers seafood to prepare at home, but also seafood chowders and baskets to either eat there or at home. Their website is here http://www.northernfish.com/
It was a lovely day to walk Ruston Way with three of my friends. Along the way I stopped to photo the Tacoma Fallen Firefighters Memorial near the Lobster Shop on Ruston Way. The sculpture is called “Fully Involved” by Larry Perkins and it was dedicated in honor of those firefighters who have given their lives in the line of duty in 2001. There are twelve names on the memorial with the most recent being from 1963. A plaque near the memorial tells me that the first volunteer fire company was formed in Tacoma in 1880 and the first paid fire department in 1889. The first African American firefighter joined the force in 1972 and the first woman firefighter in 1981.
A spring day during spring break, what a gift! So I made my dear daughter on a walk along Dock Street an East D Street (the East D Street Grade Separation Project) to look at the concrete images honoring Washington State Ferry Boats. We walked from Freighthouse Square along East D Street which is elevated over the rail tracks. Along the way are depictions of various ferries and Fire Boat #1. Each one has the general outline of its named boat. It is a nice touch. On Dock Street I stopped to snap the panorama above.
Cappy’s Produce at 1232 72nd St E., Tacoma, WA 98404 has been around for three years, but I hadn’t shopped there until this week. In my pursuit of new places and a desire for more fruits and veggies in my family’s diet, Cappy’s became my goal. It was a great find! Plenty of produce at great prices. It had all of the staples, plus some unusual items. Everything I tried was above average. The cashier was helpful and seemed sincerely glad that I was there. And that’s a good thing since I plan to be back 🙂
1715 Tacoma Avenue South is the site of Tacoma’s Japanese Schoolhouse, which was demolished in 2004. To be fair, I think this is a photo of the site, though it might be the site next door.
I’ve heard it called the Japanese Schoolhouse, but it is also known as the Japanese Language School, Nihon Go Gakko and Tacoma Yochiyen. It was constructed in 1922 and placed on the national historic register in 1984 and the Tacoma historic register in 1985. The building was used for cultural activities and education of Tacoma’s Japanese population until 1942 when it was closed. It was then used as a registration and processing center for local Japanese citizens when they were relocated to “camps” for the duration of World War II.
The National Archieves has this to say about the Japanese relocation (http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/japanese-relocation/)
The attack on Pearl Harbor also launched a rash of fear about national security, especially on the West Coast. In February 1942, just two months after Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt as commander-in-chief, issued Executive Order 9066, which had the effect of relocating all persons of Japanese ancestry, both citizens and aliens, inland, outside of the Pacific military zone. The objectives of the order were to prevent espionage and to protect persons of Japanese descent from harm at the hands of Americans who had strong anti-Japanese attitudes.
In Washington and Oregon, the eastern boundary of the military zone was an imaginary line along the rim of the Cascade Mountains; this line continued down the spine of California from north to south. From that line to the Pacific coast, the military restricted zones in those three states were defined.
Roosevelt’s order affected 117,000 people of Japanese descent, two-thirds of whom were native-born citizens of the United States. The Issei were the first generation of Japanese in this country; the Nisei were the second generation, numbering 70,000 American citizens at the time of internment. Within weeks, all persons of Japanese ancestry–whether citizens or enemy aliens, young or old, rich or poor–were ordered to assembly centers near their homes. Soon they were sent to permanent relocation centers outside the restricted military zones.
I was able to go through the schoolhouse before it was demolished and it was a fascinating bit of history. Some of the original desks were still there! When I went through the space was being used by a neon glass artist. Normally buildings on the historic register are saved from demolition, but this wooden structure was too far gone to be saved. The property is now owned by the University of Washington.
Pictures of the building can be found at the Tacoma Public Library http://search.tpl.lib.wa.us/buildings/bldgdetails.asp?id=BU-2563&vhash=T&i=1
The Tacoma Dome Station at 610 Puyallup Avenue, Tacoma is a major hub with the buses, Link and Sounder all right there. The station includes two seven story buildings and contains 2,500 parking spaces. It cost $10,500,000 to build in 1999.
http://www.piercetransit.org/tds2.htm
I’ve always admired this apartment building at 4010 Thompson. There isn’t much public information on it. The Tacoma Public Library shows that it sold in 1938. The Pierce County Assessor’s Office shows that it was built in 1900 (I would have guess later) and has six units. It was foreclosed in 2009, but has since sold.
Several 7-11s have popped up around Tacoma recently and it is good to see any new development. Today I stopped at the 7 Eleven at 2632 South Tacoma Way in the Nally Valley neighborhood of Tacoma.
During this extended winter I’ve had more then my fair share of coffee. Today I went out for a walk, but it started to hail! So, I ducked into the Northern Pacific Coffee Company at 401 Garfield Street South, in the Parkland area of unincorporated Pierce County. The coffee shop features lunch, sweets, wine, beer, coffee drinks and frappes. I had a delicious Americano and a chai cupcake.
Northern Pacific Coffee Company’s facebook page can be found here http://www.facebook.com/pages/Northern-Pacific-Coffee-Company-NPCC/167740459948412
Update: Northern Pacific Coffee Company closed as of January 2017.
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
