City of Destiny

I had a request for cross-time images set in Tacoma. Fortunately, the "City of Destiny" has preserved a wealth of beautiful old buildings, which makes aligning past and present images much easier. Here's a view looking roughly southeast, shot by Tacoma photographer Paul Richards in 1910. Richards' shot looks across the Puyallup and Foss Waterways to the industrial heart of New Tacoma with "Mount Tacoma," as many called Rainier at the time, looming in the distance. Tacoma's old City Hall can still be seen near the foot of South Stadium Way, along with the pointy-topped dome of the Northern Pacific Building. The view from the roadway is only visible during the Fall and Winter these days -- a wall of white maple trees have put the intervening 100+ years to good use.