Tacoma's Waterfront

For more than 150 years, the activity on and around Commencement Bay-since the 1840s, when Charles Wilkes first named it, to the present day-has been a barometer for measuring Tacoma's maritime and industrial growth and development. Wilkes's early exploration assured the inclusion of Puget Sound within the boundaries of the United States following negotiations with Great Britain in 1846. Drawn to the deep waters of the south shore of the bay, the Northern Pacific Railroad established its tr...