Tacoma celebrated its 100th birthday in the summer of 1969. This year-long centennial celebration commemorated the city’s past and looked ahead to a bright future. A plat for the community was filed in 1869. In 1873, the area was chosen as the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad and incorporated a year later.
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Planning the Tacoma Centennial
Events throughout the year adopted a centennial theme. Groups donned “centennial costumes” for everything from concerts to old-fashioned picnics, carnivals, and strawberry socials. To join in the celebration, people formed clubs at offices, factories, and senior centers: the “Centennial Belles” for women and the “Brothers of the Brush” for men. The Young Men’s Business Men Club sponsored a beard-growing contest for the “Brothers.”
A Centennial Mercantile, staffed by senior citizen volunteers, offered frontier bonnets and top hats, badges, bumper stickers, blazers, dresses, ties, badges, and souvenir plates. Bronze and silver coins were minted, featuring a large “69” on the front and a short history of Tacoma on the reverse. The Tacoma Stamp Club arranged for a special collectible envelope cachet depicting the first Tacoma post office.
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Royalty and a Song Celebrate Tacoma’s 100 Years
No 1960s event would be complete without a royal court. Sally Hagen won the Centennial Queen crown by selling the most advance tickets to the Centennial pageant. Her court of princesses were the six runners-up.
The centennial celebration also had its own theme song. Joe Jordan, a ragtime and jazz composer, wrote “One Hundred Years of Progress.” That September, the 87-year-old was presented with the Tacoma-Pierce County Good Citizenship Award. He was the first Black person to be so honored.
Centennial Celebrations in Tacoma
The high point of the centennial celebrations took place in late June and early July. The opening day ceremony began on Friday, June 27. At 10 a.m. the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum sounded canons, joined by factory whistles, church bells and fire sirens. That evening there was an old-fashioned caravan and promenade from the Tacoma Mall to the Queen’s Ball at the Winthrop Hotel.
June 28 was the “Centennial Queen’s Day.” The highlight was the Centennial Parade, themed “Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow.” The two-hour-long parade started at Stadium High School and proceeded down Stadium Way and Pacific Avenue to 21st and Pacific. Twenty-three floats, 25 horse units, 16 bands, 13 drill teams and many antique cars entertained the crowds. Many participants wore historical costumes.
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Parade day also saw the premiere of the 90-minute spectacular pageant “By These Waters” at the Lincoln Bowl. It would repeat on June 29 and July 1, 2, 3, and 5. Written by Sid and Ann Ekdale, it traced the history of Tacoma, ending with a grand finale and a look at the future.
Each of the pageant’s 18 episodes and grand finale were sponsored by different clubs, from Centennial Belles to the PTA. Volunteers used donated materials to create a massive 180-foot-long outdoor stage with five levels, three motion picture screens and a 25-foot-tall tower. The pageant had a cast of over 600, the youngest being a month-old baby in a log cabin scene. It also featured the internationally famed “Dancing Waters,” a water and light show set to music.
The theme for Sunday, June 29, was “Faith of Our Fathers.” An ecumenical picnic was held at a Rally in Lincoln Park, and an old-fashioned concert and square dance were held at Wright Park.
Monday, June 30, was “Young America Day.” This included an old-fashioned baking contest sponsored by Tacoma Public Utilities. Recipes needed to be at least 50 years old. “Grace Hansen’s Centennial Review” variety show was that evening, featuring jugglers, comics, and music. Instead of “By These Waters,” the Lincoln Bowl hosted the Tacoma Centennial Rock Concert, featuring local musicians as well as Buffalo Springfield.
The next day was “Ladies Day.” That morning, working women had breakfast in the Crystal Ballroom at the Winthrop Hotel. In the afternoon, Pier 4 was dedicated at the Port of Tacoma.
July 2 was “Pioneer Homecoming Day.” The Tacoma Centennial Golf Tournament began, running through July 6.
“Neighbors Day,” July 3, was fairly quiet, but Independence Day festivities featured a nighttime aerial show that ended in tragedy when local pilot Charles Crawford was killed. His handmade biplane crashed into Commencement Bay. The fireworks show, delayed an hour by the disaster, was dedicated to him and his family. He left behind a wife and three children.
The last day of the centennial, July 5, was Brotherhood Day. It saw the final performance of “By These Waters,” with the final judging for the beard contest beforehand. The Parkland Rodeo began.
Other events happened throughout Centennial Week. The Apollo 7 capsule was on display at the Centennial Headquarters. The “Harbor Queen” held daily tours during the festival, with evening sunset dinners and live music. Naval ships were open for visitors, including the USS New Jersey, just back from Vietnam. The USO held dances and gave service members all-day tours to Mount Rainier.
Tacoma’s Centennial Continues
Many more events were held throughout the rest of the year. The year 1969 was a time to celebrate both Tacoma’s history and its future. “One hundred years of Progress,” wrote Joe Jordan in song, “/One hundred years of success./One hundred years of sweat and toil, /With ups and downs, with strain and stress./We have watched Tacoma grow,/Into a city proud.”
May Tacoma’s second century be likewise.