Current Exhibit

Dreams & Dispossessions: The Railway Comes to Tacoma

CURATOR: Elizabeth Korsmo

The Tacoma we know today was shaped by its origins as a railway terminus for the Northern Pacific Railway. The railroad brought new people, new industries, new opportunities, and new conflicts into the area. For good or ill, this event changed the lives of everyone living along Commencement Bay.

Dreams & Dispossession explores the stories of the individuals who were directly effected by these changes.

Throughout 2023, in honor of the sesquesentennial of the naming of Commencement Bay as the terminus of the transcontinental railroad, Tacoma Historical Society will host a variety of events an activities relating to railway history in Tacoma.