Facts About Tacoma
-
The name Tacoma means Mother of the Waters, from the Indian name for Mt. Rainier
-
Tacoma adopted the “city of destiny’ as its official slogan in 1873.
-
The port of Tacoma covers more than 2,400 acres, making It the 6th largest port in North America.
-
The city has an area of 62.34 square miles, of which 49.72 square miles is land and 12.62 square miles is water.
-
The city is the birthplace of Bing Crosby, a famous American actor and singer who has more than half a billion records in circulation and is hailed as one of the best selling artists.
-
The Tacoma Dome is the largest wood-domed arena in the world, constructed with 1.6 million board feet.
-
Stadium High School was originally designed to be a luxury hotel, but in 1893 during the depression, construction halted. Then the building was left nothing but a shell after a devastating fire. That shell finally transformed into Stadium High School in 1906.
-
The city is home to the Museum of Glass, which displays different types of glass art from the region as well as from all over the world.
-
Tacoma was incorporated on November 12, 1875.
-
The co-founder of the Baskin-Robbins, Irvine Robbins, got his start in Tacoma in 1927. He sold ice cream and cottage cheese produced from his father’s cows’ surplus milk.
-
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge, built-in 1950, is the fifth-longest suspension bridge in the world.
-
Tacoma is at 47°14′29″N 122°27′34″W (47.241371, −122.459389).
-
Point Defiance, a 700-acre park, is one of the largest urban parks in the nation. Only second only Central Park in New York City.
-
Tacoma elevation is 381 feet, varying between sea level and about 500 feet.
-
The area was inhabited for thousands of years by American Indians, most recently the Puyallup people, who lived in settlements on the delta.
-
Tacoma is twinned with the following sister cities Kitakyushu, Japan; Gunsan, South Korea; Ålesund, Norway; Vladivostok, Russia; Fuzhou, China; Davao City, Philippines; George, South Africa; Cienfuegos, Cuba; Taichung, Taiwan; El Jadida, Morocco; Biot, France; Boca del Río, Mexico & Brovary, Ukraine.
-
The city gained notoriety in 1940 for the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which earned the nickname “Galloping Gertie”.
-
the City of Tacoma the major employers in the area include the military, healthcare, finance and insurance, aerospace, trade and logistics, government and education.
-
The population of Tacoma is 219,346, as of 2020.
-
Tacoma is the second-largest city in the Puget Sound area and the third-largest in the state.