Thea Foss Waterway
Encyclopedia
The Thea Foss Waterway is a waterway running roughly north-south immediately east of downtown Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

. It is an inlet of Commencement Bay
Commencement Bay
Commencement Bay is a bay of Puget Sound in the U.S. state of Washington. The city of Tacoma is located on the bay, with the Port of Tacoma occupying the southeastern end. A line drawn from Point Defiance in the southwest to Browns Point in the northeast serves to mark the generally accepted...

.

Tacoma was the site of an early sawmill in 1853.
The deepwater port began to boom in the 1870s, sailing
ships and steam tugs called in. The Northern Pacific Railroad arrived, by way of the Columbia River in 1874,and the port began to boom (the line via Montana was finished in 1883, but access from California and Nevada did not come till 1891). Tea, wheat lumber, coal, and apples were moved. Trade with Asia exploded. A through railway line was built across the Cascade mountains at Stampede Pass in 1890s and Tacoma began is longtime rivalry with its upstart neighbor 25 miles to the north.

Initially, the railroads owned the foreshore, as they continue to do till this day. But the City Fathers of Tacoma saw the need to wrest control of the land and
build the port. In 1919, the Port of Tacoma was established to capture Panama Canal Traffic, and the
sprawling port was expanded into the river delta.
Another major railroad arrived--the Milwaukee Road, and it brought further trade.

Sawmills, cedar shingle mills, boat yards, wharves, graneries
and warehouses proliferated in the area. Railroad yards extended on
the flat foreshore. Fishworks, and processing plants were set up on the shore.

101 years ago, the Thea Foss Waterway was a thriving industrial center. Industry began to dwindle in the area, and by 1981, the Thea Foss Waterway was almost entirely abandoned. In 1983, the United States Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...

 (EPA) listed the Thea Foss and Wheeler-Osgood waterways as part of the larger 12 acres (48,562.3 m²) Commencement Bay Superfund
Superfund
Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 , a United States federal law designed to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances...

 site. The final cap from the Superfund cleanup action on the Thea Foss Waterway occurred back in February 2006.
As of 2010, planned development is underway along the waterway. When complete, the new development will feature parks, residential areas, and office space. A public esplanade will run along the length of the waterway. 7 of the 15 development sites are either constructed or have specific plans for redevelopment. The project is overseen by the Foss Waterway Development Authority Board (FWDA).
Local leaders see the Thea Foss Waterway as an economic opportunity, and seek to restore it to the commercial hub that it once was.
  • Puyallup River
    Puyallup River
    The Puyallup River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington. About long, it is formed by glaciers on the west side of Mount Rainier. It flows generally northwest, emptying into Commencement Bay, part of Puget Sound...

  • Hyselos Creek
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