Tacoma is often overshadowed by bigger cities to the North and South. But in mid-nineteenth century it was a favorite of East Coast big shots, winning a multi-city competition to become the western terminus (the end of the line) of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

The Northern Pacific began construction in 1870 in Duluth, Minnesota. Congress, which authorized the railroad, knew where the railroad would start, but not where it would end. The legislation said only that the western terminus, should be ". . . on a line north of the forty-fifth degree of latitude (near Portland) to some point on Puget Sound. . ."1

Later, railroad officials were more specific, calling for a site that had a "good harbor, good shore facilities for wharves, and plenty of cheap land to acquire for the future city."2

That described Tacoma to a tee, but also a number of other cities, especially Seattle. Steilacoom, Mukilteo and Bellingham also claimed to have all the ingredients of a railroad terminus and "were in the competition right up to the end."3

Portland by default was the original western terminus. Its location near the Columbia River gave it a natural geographic advantage. But Portland was far south of its upstart neighbors along Puget Sound, which boasted valuable deep-water ports.

Tacoma was at first Portland’s main rival as the dominant city in the Pacific Northwest. The city sprang up in 1852 adjacent to a sawmill built near the shore of Commencement Bay (now Old Tacoma). Twenty years later, this little sawdust town got a big shot in the arm when the Northern Pacific picked Tacoma over Seattle and other Puget Sound cities as its western terminus. According to one historian, Tacoma’s selection "produced a violent reaction in the local (Seattle) press."4

It also produced jobs, industry and growth. The railroad ran from Tacoma to Kalama, Washington, on the northern side of the Columbia River. From there passengers and freight were ferried across the Columbia to Portland, where they transferred to eastbound trains. But due to a financial panic in 1873 most railroads struggled financially, including the Tacoma-to-Kalama leg.5

Advances in technology and railroad construction in the 1880s improved Tacoma’s fortunes once again. The Northern Pacific bridged the Columbia River at Pasco in Eastern Washington in 1888. From there it headed northwest through the Yakima Valley and over the Cascade Mountains via a two-mile tunnel beneath Stampede Pass. The railroad now had a shortcut to Puget Sound and no longer needed to veer south to out-of-the-way Portland.

Logic would suggest that Tacoma’s railroad victory would have made it king of Northwest cities. But it didn’t work out that way. According to historians, Seattle was determined to dominate the region. By 1900, after being boosted by the Gold Rush, Seattle had its own direct railroad connections to the East and a fast-growing port. Its "tireless campaigns of self-promotion" helped Seattle to grow faster than its rivals. By 1910 it had surpassed both Tacoma and Portland in population. 6Yes, Tacoma won the battle for the railroads, but Seattle "ultimately carried away the grand prize."7