The City of Destiny “Tacoma”

Here locally Tacoma, Washington is called the city of Destiny. It is the second largest city in Western Washington and the third in the state. The population is around two hundred thousand people.

What we call Mt. Rainier  the native Americans called “Tahoma”. The reason Tacoma is called the city of destiny goes back to the late 1890s when the railroad was established in the city. At the time Tacoma was recognized as the main city over Seattle because of the Commencement Bay that Tacoma is part of; however, the Gold Rush in Alaska turned Seattle into the major city instead. Tacoma continued to think of itself as the city of Destiny.

Tacoma is considered a small city however to us growing up in Gig Harbor it was a large city. Where I currently live it is only a five minute drive going over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. I live very close to the bridge however where I grew up in east Gig Harbor it was about a twenty minute drive.

Both my father and mother worked in Tacoma however I went to school in Gig Harbor and Purdy which is only a few miles north of Gig Harbor. I always felt Tacoma as a very special place to visit as a kid. In my mind it was the city. You talk to anyone I went to school with they felt the same as well. Going to Seattle was even more special to visit. Today it is still a very special place for those who have grown up in Gig Harbor to visit.

Our family visited Seattle several times every year because I had cousins living there well as those in Bellingham, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia Canada. As special for our family to visit our cousins it was special for them to come visit us in Gig Harbor. Not everyone had relatives living in Seattle so it was special indeed for us.

Now though Gig Harbor has a larger population then when I was growing up at least twice as many people so we are sort of a breakfast community to Tacoma. A lot of people in Tacoma and Seattle have heard of Gig Harbor though they not know exactly where it is without looking at a map however when I was growing up most people in Tacoma did not know where Gig Harbor was located. I told them it was the town across the Narrows Bridge. Other than my cousins I would have to say most in Seattle did not know or heard of Gig Harbor.

Tacoma has a triple A baseball team that plays at Cheney Stadium. It is only about ten minutes away from where I live. It is the triple A team for the Seattle Mariners. Also they have the Tacoma Dome where some sports events are played well as concerts.

Tacoma has done a lot of work in the last twenty years or so to put its name on the map once again. Downtown Tacoma is where a branch of the University of Washington is located. Also University of Puget Sound is located in north Tacoma while Pacific Lutheran University is in nearby Parkland, Washington. Tacoma has several small towns surrounding it besides Gig Harbor. Primarily there is Puyallup (named after a local Native American tribe) and Lakewood. In fact the Puyallup tribe fished in Gig Harbor and on the Puget Sound before white man came to its shores. Near Tacoma and Lakewood is where Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force bases are located.

Right now there are visitors from China and Germany among different countries visiting the city of Destiny. The state of Washington gets a lot of its foreign business from China since it is the closest place in United States. The same goes for Russia. Tacoma has what they call “sister cities” like Fuzhou, Fujian of China, Vladivostok of Russia and the oldest sister city partnership is Kitakyushu of Japan established in 1959.

Though Tacoma is somewhat not there yet they continue working on being the city of Destiny. A special city that is close to my heart. So if you ever come for a visit to Seattle check out Tacoma and Gig Harbor too. Also you will see Mt. Rainier showing itself in all its glory too.