1923 Metsker City Plan or Map of Tacoma, Washington

This is a 1923 Charles Metsker city plan or map of Tacoma, Washington, and its environs. The map celebrates Tacoma's rise as the Lumber Capital of the Pacific Northwest. It is also significant for its illustration of the ephemeral Tacoma streetcar system and the city's fast transition to paved automobile roads.

A Closer Look

Coverage embraces from Gig Harbor to Hillhurst with major roads illustrated. Yellow highlighting represents the few paved roads, a stark reminder of how difficult individual travel was in the 1920s, even in a city as large as Tacoma. Nonetheless, we see an emerging public transportation system in the form of red-highlighted streetcar lines connecting Tacoma with its suburbs. The wharves along Commencement Bay are identified by the operating company, including numerous lumber companies, the city dock, and a few ferry landings. Ferry and steamer routes from Tacoma are also noted. A bold orange line marks Tacoma's official city limits.

The Lumber Capital

In the 1920s, Tacoma, Washington, emerged as a pivotal lumber capital, harnessing its strategic location on Puget Sound to become a nexus for the timber industry in the Pacific Northwest. This era saw the city's waterfront dotted with mills and warehouses, buzzing with activity as timber, harvested from the surrounding forests, were processed, stored, and shipped. Tacoma's rail connections and deep-water port facilitated lumber exports to global markets, including to Asia, bolstering the local economy and shaping the city's identity.

Streetcars in Tacoma

In the late 19th and early 20th century, streetcars were the key form of transportation in many American cities, and Tacoma was not an exception. The first streetcar lines (streetcars pulled by horses) opened in Tacoma in 1888 along Pacific Avenue and Tacoma Avenue. By the early 1910s, Tacoma had 125 miles of streetcar trackage and nearly 30 lines. These included many electrified lines, along with an electrified interurban line to Seattle. The Tacoma Railway and Power Company served around 30,000,000 passengers a year at its peak. However, as in most other American cities, the rise of private automobiles caused a precipitous drop in ridership. The last streetcar in Tacoma ran on June 11, 1938. Since the mid-1990s, public rail in Tacoma and Seattle has been on the rise, with Sound Transit and Tacoma Link both reviving enthusiasm for streetcars.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by Charles F. Metsker in 1923. We note six cataloged examples in OCLC: Yale University, the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Stanford University, and the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.