As I look out my window to the water stretched out below, I wonder what view greeted the distant occupant of this house when it was built in 1912. What was life like for former inhabitants of this little town? Did they face the same struggles as a community? Were their heartaches and joys the same as ours today? Was the town close-knit or divided? Has the view out my window changed or remained the same?
Words help to paint pictures, to make the imagined real to the reader. Living in a small town can bring meaning to words only dreamed about in modern suburbia. Community: a body of people living in the same place under the same laws. Home: the social unit formed by a family living together, a place of origin, a congenial environment. Society: a voluntary association of persons for common ends, i.e. companionship, a part of a community bound together by common interests and standards. Such words blend into stories that make a group of individuals into a community, into a town. These pages will document but a few of the stories of my home, Ruston, and give fleeting glimpses of the pictures that might have been seen out my window over the past century.
The town of Ruston remains hidden, tucked away at the north end of Tacoma’s waterfront between an old dark tunnel and Point Defiance Park. The tiny town stands, in many ways, as one of the last vestiges of small town America. Surrounded on all sides by the big city of Tacoma, community connections are strong, neighbors know one another and civic pride is pervasive.
Long before settlers moved into Commencement Bay, the native Americans used this bluff as a burial ground for their dead.[1] The Puyallup tribe gathered food from the shoreline as timber stood tall on the hillside. The view of hillside began to change by the 1860’s as the new community of Tacoma began to develop just to the south. The United States claimed the land to the north at the tip of Commencement Bay as a military reservation, leaving a stretch of undeveloped land between that would become the town of Ruston.
The area might have developed as just another Tacoma neighborhood but for the seeds sown when a lead smelter was located on this patch of land in 1889.[2] Early photos show lumber mills lining the shoreline from Point Defiance along the bay, including sites on either side of the smelter. Once the timber had been cleared, the land would have likely sat vacant until population growth overtook it. But housing for smelter employees brought the area to life long before Tacoma spread around it, creating a separate community at the edge of the military reservation.
Ruston’s tiny shoreline housed many businesses by the turn of the century; besides the smelter, a lumber mill continued to operate to the south as well as a brickyard. On the south side of the brickyard, just outside of town, there was a Japanese housing facility.[3] The military reservation had been opened to the greater community for use as a park, creating a new destination point for many in Tacoma and bringing visitors through the area via trolley car lines that ran north and south down Pearl Street.[4]
Early census data shows that a thriving community was well established even before the town incorporated in 1906. An 1880 census was taken at a logging camp that may have been located in the Point Defiance area. By 1900, several homes are listed in the area along Pearl Street. The industrial nature of the community is clear by the 1910 census. Most of the residences had at least one single man listed as a boarder or roomer. Many of the homes show extended families living together, listing mother-in-laws, aunts, cousins and stepchildren at the same address.
There was a thriving hotel business in Ruston by 1910. Six addresses had over 10 people listed as boarders, with another seven housing at least five roomers. These in-house communities were often immigrants of the same origin. The area around North 49th Street had 17 homes with boarders, with all the occupants born Austria, Sweden or Norway. In the majority of the residences, most spoke Slovenian or Croatian with only one or two who could speak English. Most worked at the smelter. The only exception was a boarding house with 17 Japanese who worked at a sawmill. North 51st Street, which divides the town in half, had at least two major hotels at the bottom of the hill near the smelter gates. One location had a mixture of boarders who were primarily born in midwestern states and worked at a variety of local business. The other had 18 residents from Hungary who spoke Romanian, most of whom worked at the smelter. The area north of 51st Street was single family homes with very few extra occupants.[5]
One of Ruston’s founders was JP Garrison. His story is reflective of many of the turn-of-the-century men who formed the backbone of the community. He moved from Texas to Old Tacoma to live with his cousin without much education. He was sickly and not expected to live long. But he seemed to flourish in his new environment, building one of the first homes in the Ruston in about 1890. He made his early living with a team of horses that he would hire out to clear logs from Point Defiance park. But during the economic downturn of 1890, he sold his horses and went to work for the smelter. JP was one of the first councilmen elected and although he died just after WWII, the family remained active in local politics until the early 1990’s, when his daughter-in-law Etta passed away.[6]
One of the early tasks for the town fathers was to install sewers for these many homes. At one of the first council meetings, 40 property owners presented a petition to the town and agreed to pay $5 each for the construction of a main sewer line. But 9 others protested levying any taxes to pay for the sewer. The motion to build the line passed with only three votes on Dec. 10, 1906.[7] The town later passed an ordinance requiring homes to connect to the system, making it illegal to “maintain cesspools on the premises where sewers were accessible.”[8]
Leslie Tallman was appointed the first town marshal on January 1, 1907. He worked on law enforcement when he was not busy at his smelter job. A street and alley committee was appointed that first year to deal with roadway issues. Mr. Chambers donated “plank enough” to the committee to build a crossing over 51st and Pearl street and the marshal was “authorized to take the matter in hand and see that the crossing was put down in a substantial manner.” The committee originally authorized Seattle/Tacoma Power Company to build a new electrical system with a 50 year franchise, but after objections were raised about features of the powerlines, the full council denied the franchise.[9] This denial apparently caused problems when Tacoma reported that they could not supply power to Ruston because they had contracted with the same Seattle/Tacoma Power Company.
By spring of 1907, the fledgling town was ready to build its own town hall. The manager of the smelter, Mr. Rust, offered the town a lot next to the Darr Hotel on 51st street, which the town accepted with construction costs of the new facility estimated at $1762. In the meantime, the town was trying to clean up its image. The marshal was instructed to notify residents to clear up their yards and “put rubbish in barrels and have it hauled away.” An ordinance was passed that authorized the impounding and killing of stray dogs, and Mr. Rust was asked for a location to keep impounded dogs and cattle.[10]
Along with the hotels, a commercial district took shape around the intersection of 51st and Pearl Streets. Most residents lived, worked and played within the five block town limits. To help keep them entertained, the building that is now Coles Tavern on 51st began a theater with a stage lit by kerosene lamps.[11] The neighboring building, now an antique mall, was a grocery store for many years. A large drugstore operated across the street in the building that is now the Antique Sandwich Company. During the 1940’s, a well known jazz club was located in the Showboat Tavern building just south of the theater.[12] Not to be outdone, the smelter had a clubhouse a few blocks away on N. 52nd and Bennett Street. It closed during World War II, but local children continued to sneak in at night and use the bowling lanes and pool tables.[13]
It is unclear what impact the first world war had on this tiny town. But many documents remain that show how World War II affected Ruston. Because the production of copper was important to the war effort, the federal government took over operation of the smelter. Barracks were constructed close by to house the many workers, many of whom were brought in to replace young men who had been called into military service. The smelter produced a newsletter called “The Slag” during the war years that was sent to all former employees. The newsletter was an important reminder of home to those on the battlelines, and a way for them to stay in contact with each other by publishing letters from the servicemen. One wrote, “I wish to add my thanks for sending me the ‘Slag’. It helps link the broken chain between us and home...wishing all...continous success so we can all meet again when the plant whistle blows in the very near future.”[14]
Many who grew up in this town say the world revolved around the smelter whistle. The sound was heard at each shift change, bringing an instant flood of workers to and from the smelter at the bottom of the hill. The whistle was a signal for children to hurry home, the call for firemen to respond to help and it even blew to welcome in the new year each New Years Eve. Even though her husband walked down the hill to work each morning, Myrtle Johnson talked about how the blast was her signal to take the car to pick up him from work each afternoon.[15] John Krillich, who grew up in town, described the rush after the whistle as “the sidewalks were just black with men. It was a veritable parade up and down Pearl Street”.[16]
Ruston has always housed several taverns to quench the thirst of its many hardworking smeltermen. But the small town has its church buildings as well. A Lutheran church is now home to an antique shop at N. 52nd and Pearl Street. But a congregation met there until at least the 1950’s.[17] Just down the street, next to Showboat Tavern, a brick building held Glad Tidings Assembly of God church for many years. Glad Tidings has moved out of Ruston but the building is now home to the Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church.
Over the years, some local eccentrics have taken on legendary status. Sanitary Sam lived on Commercial Street near the base of the smelter stack. He was well known for his collection of garbage. The hillside behind his house was littered with appliances and junk. It is rumored that he died after he was forced to take a bath.[18]
Chicken Olie, who lived at corner of North 50th and Commercial Streets, had a similar reputation. He had chickens, goats and rabbits living in the house. When some young schoolboys were caught shooting pigeons in town, the marshal punished them by having them help clean out the structure after the town had condemned it. It was a daunting task. Rather than wash dishes, Olie would eat off newspapers, each meal adding a new layer to his dining room table. One of the young men noted the poultry company who came to take the chickens and swore he would never buy one of their products again. Town officials moved Olie into a nursing home, burned his old house and built him a new one. He set the new house on fire the day after moving back.[19]
Another location for childhood legends were the old smelter barracks. There were stories about a murder there during the war, and kids would sneak in after they were deserted and skate in the old cafeteria. The area eventually became the home and junkyard of another local legend, Leo Wingard. Leo was often at odds with town officials, creating numerous court battles as the town tried to get him to clean up his property. There are rumors that early in the battle, the town fire department refused to put out a fire at the old barracks, leaving some to wonder if one of the town officials had set the fire deliberately.[20] Leo ran for election on more than one occasion and almost won a seat in 1977 when he tied with Doris Sage. The tie was broken by a coin toss, with Leo losing.[21] He later claimed the election was rigged and sued the county elections department.[22]
The most memorable structure in Ruston over the past century has been the smelter smokestack. It was built in 1917 and stood 571 feet tall on the bluff overlooking the smelter. The structure was built in just 9 months, using teams of horses to cut a deep circular base into the clay soil. It was the tallest stack in the world at the time. But the record did not stand long. An earth-quake the first year caused damage that required the removal of the top ten feet of brick.
The stack saw its share of action over the years. It was news when it got a new coat of paint,[23] and was even used for a wedding in 1929.[24] It was a popular site for protesters, with environmental groups using it for occasional messages supporting their cause.[25] Even after the fires cooled under the stack, banners were hung by the daring who would sneak up its ladder. A local family hung a remembrance to their mother in 1991. Even with sticks of dynamite drilled into its brick, the night before the stack was brought down, a foolhardy radio fan hung a sheet celebrating a ‘blast the stack’ party.[26]
The stack was imploded on January 17, 1993, eight years after the smelter closed its doors. An estimated 100,000 people gathered in Ruston to watch the event. The local newspaper reported that the old smelter whistle would signal the fall of the chimney, not realizing that the whistle was inoperable without steam from the smelter furnaces. So police sirens tried to substitute and shortly after noon, the stack fell in 8 seconds to sound of boat horns and yells, and the bittersweet tears of those watching.
For many the demise of the smelter stack signaled only good things. But for many longtime Rustonites, it was a symbol of the rejection by the larger community of the industrial base that had built not only Ruston, but also Tacoma. It was a reminder of the lean years ahead, struggling to survive without businesses to tax or employees to house. While many in Tacoma were applauding as the dust cleared, some locals were quietly mourning the end of an era and wondering about the future of the little town. Doomsday prophecies about Ruston’s inability to survive without the smelter had been abundant for decades, but somehow the community remains intact almost 15 years after that last employee clocked out.
In many ways, the view from my window has changed dramatically. There is no smelter at the bottom of the hill. Ruston survives as a bedroom community, working out a new identity for itself in the midst of a changing world. Yet much has remained constant. Neighbors know one another here. Families watch each others children grow and new generations take the place of the last. In a word, ‘community’ becomes a verb here in Ruston. Its a great view.
Footnotes:
[1] Michael Sullivan, Local Historian, Personal conversation with author, October 1998.
[2] The News Tribune, Smelter flourished in early 1900s, 9 August 1985.
[3] Stanford Atlas Maps, Vol. I, 1912, Northwest Room, Tacoma Public Library.
[4] Murray and Rosa Morgan, South On The Sound, (Windsor Publications: Woodland Hills, California 1984), 104.
[5] Census, Pierce County Washington 1880, 1900, 1910, Northwest Room, Tacoma Public Library.
[6] Lee Garrison, Ruston childhood resident, Personal conversation with author, 13 May 1998.
[7] Ruston Council Meeting Minutes, 10 December 1906.
[8] Ruston Ordinance Number 15, January 1907.
[9] Ruston Council Minutes, 31 December 1906, 17 January 1907.
[10] Ruston Council Minutes, 24 February, 6 May, 3 June 1907.
[11] Bob Fletcher, Local Historian, Personal conversation with author, September 1998.
[12] Tom Collins, UWT Professor, History of Jazz, August 1998.
[13] Bill Baker, Ruston childhood resident, Personal conversation with author, 27 July 1998.
[14] The Slag, May 1944.
[15] Myrtle Johnson, Ruston resident, Personal conversation with author, 14 November 1998.
[16] The News Tribune, Waiting: Asarco-dependent Ruston facing major change in its lifestyle, 13 October 1984.
[17] Photo, Ruston Senior Gathering, October 1998.
[18] Dan Gallagher, Ruston resident, Personal conversation with author, March 1998.
[19] Pete Tallman, Ruston resident, Personal conversation with author, 9 April 1998.
[20] Mary Joyce, Ruston resident, Personal conversation with author, 1987.
[21] The News Tribune, Sage ‘flipped’ onto council, 1 December 1977.
[22] The News Tribune, Elections loser claims ballot was misplaced, 7 December 1977.
[23] The News Tribune, Smelter Stack Looking Prettier, 20 June 1973.
[24] The News Tribune, Legendary Landmark, 15 January 1993.
[25] The New Tribune, Seattle, Keep Your Protesters: Letters to the Editor, 19 October 1984.
[26] Personal knowledge of author.
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Community Jewels
The town of Ruston remains hidden, tucked away at the north end of Tacoma’s waterfront between an old dark tunnel and Point Defiance Park. The tiny town stands, in many ways, as one of the last vestiges of small town Amercia. Surrounded on all sides by the big city, community connections are strong, neighbors know one another and town pride is pervasive. And yet this modest town has been the stage of major battles; big city versus small town, corporate giant versus big government, environmental perfection versus reality.
This small town hertitage is often carried in the memories of the elderly, in the stories they tell, and in the imagination of the young who allow themselves to be transported to a long ago time and place. Such stories can only be protected if told and captured. This paper attempts to preserve a few pieces of Ruston’s heritage, to tell a small number of stories gleaned from the old and wise among us and the documents they have left behind.
Ruston’s legacy is that of the Industrial Revolution, of man’s pride in taming the earth and using its riches to enhance his own life. It was that force that laid the seed for the community when Tacoma business leaders built a smelter on Commencement Bay. In its 100 years of existence, this small town has faced societal changes that devastated its economic base and encountered conflicts within and without its borders. Yet it has survived with a unique identity that only struggle and longevity can produce.
Before European settlers reached this shore, other people likely gathered around ancient campfires on Ruston beaches to tell their own stories. What visitors walked the original hillside in centuries past? History has lost such details, but clearly the neighborhood was known to the original native population. A large village existed at the entrance to Gig Harbor that appeared to have been founded by the Puyallup tribe on Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma.[1] The Ruston shoreline surely saw frequent trips between these two groups. The area was called “Cho-chu-chluth” for the maple trees that grew in the area..[2] The Puyallups used the beach for clam harvesting, and early maps refer to the entire shoreline from Point Defiance to Old Tacoma as the “Salmon Banks”.[3]
During Tacoma’s industrial boom years in the late nineteenth century, several local businessmen formed the Tacoma Milling & Smelting Company and began the process of building a lead smelter. In 1888, the group elected a wealthy St. Paul native, Dennis Ryan, as president and construction began. The first 50 employees [4] fired up the furnace on September 12, 1889 and began melting metal ores that were easily shipped by water and rail.[5] Lumber was scavenged from driftwood as much as possible, and the shoreline began to expand as the smelting byproduct of slag was poured into the bay.[6]
Housing sprang up quickly, nestled on the hillside just outside the smelter gate. The first were boarding homes for the single men who worked at the smelter. As a typical turn-of-the century mill town, the hillside also held a barber and many taverns.[7] In time, single family homes were added to accommodate married families The first was built by Marco Budinich around 1890.[8] The fledgling community considered incorporating as Swansea that same year, so named to mirror the industrial success of Swansea, Wales. But when given assurances that the larger city of Tacoma would not annex them, the idea was dropped.[9] The area was simply referred to as Smelter, or Smelterville for the next decade.
The drive for independence took shape as the smelter changed hands. Ryan was not able to make a profit, and sold the business to the manager W.R. Rust within a year. Rust added the smelting of copper, and business grew. The Guggenheim brothers bought the business in 1905 and added it to their American Smelting Company.[10] Rust continued on as manager and lead the drive to incorporate the small town in 1906, going so far as to direct smelter lawyers to draw up the petition for signatures to begin the process.[11] In the months following, meetings were held for citizens to voice their opinion. Women, who had not yet achieved the right to vote, were even invited to attend the debates.[12] The local citizens named their new town Ruston in Rust’s honor when they officially incorporated on Oct. 22, 1906.
With independence secured, November 1906 saw 121 voters register for the first municipal election. The room over Hank’s Store was designated as the official polling place.[13] Among those early citizens, seven different boarding houses were listed as residences, ranging from Smith’s Store to Point Defiance Hotel. Ohio boasted the most American-born citizens, with one voter native to Washington. Fifty-one were of foreign birth, mostly from Sweden and Norway. The majority worked at the smelter (64), with another 33 in related fields such as laborer, craneman, and foreman.[14]
The first council meeting for the young town was held on Nov. 12, 1906 in the school on the bluff overlooking the smelter. Mayor Austen presided with five new council members. G. H. Wallace was appointed clerk and L. Martin was chosen as marshal. These same officials won their seat in that first election on Dec. 7, 1906.
Those early months included the usual duties of the times. For example, the council instructed the “chairman of the streets and alleys committee to notify Mr. Barney Rhodeseid that he must not tear boards off of the railing on 51st Street for the purpose of getting to his chicken coop, but the council would allow him to put in a small gate which they think will be sufficient.”[15] Ordinance #14 addressed similar issues; “It shall be unlawful for any cow, cattle, horse, mule, goat, sheep, swine...to run at large between the hours of 8 am and 5 p.m.”[16] It is unclear if animals could run at night as they pleased.
In other business, The Ruston Review was designated as the official paper for the Town, with a bill paid on Dec. 31, 1906. No current resident can recall seeing this paper, and it may be that this vital record is gone forever. In keeping with the industrial nature of the community, the first three business licenses to be issued were for saloons.[17]
Major shifts in American culture are illustrated in Ordinance #10, which declared the following to be disorderly persons: “all female persons who loiter in or about saloons or other places where intoxicating liquors are sold or disposed of, making a business of drinking with men and soliciting men to purchase and drink intoxicating liquor.” Yet some concepts are reborn today. Ordinance #13 made it “unlawful for a child under 16 years of age to be upon the public streets or highways of the Town of Ruston after certain hours of the evening.”
Two years after incorporating, the local newspaper ran a headline declaring, “Ruston More Than Doubles Population and Assessed Valuation in 18 Months”. The article notes that residents had no access to Tacoma “but over a poor, ill-kept wagon road”. Most traveled to and from by boat.[18] The town boasted 125 pupils in the Ruston School, a YMCA clubhouse complete with gym, bowling alleys, pool tables and reading rooms for the smelter men, and a Town Hall with a jail cell in the basement. The mayor, Ed Austen, had recently been replaced by Ed Daley.[19]
The early criminal docket also reveals a distant time. On Jan. 12, 1912 a man was sentenced to 33 days for “giving intoxicating liquor to a habitual drunkard.” In April, five days of jail time for disorderly conduct were suspended for two men when they volunteered to leave town. Someone was given a $1 fine for “insulting and using profane language in public.”[20]
By 1920, the town was well established. The Smelter Club was bustling with indoor baseball games in the winter and dances every weekend. Warm weather saw baseball games on the smelter grounds between the refinery buildings. A new hotel was nearing completion, and furnanceman Wes Newman, who had just completed a correspondence course in detecting, was appointed as Ruston’s new Marshall. Prohibition brought complaints from residents, some of whom could not see the point in taking vacation without liquor.[21]
By 1921, the “crime wave” from Tacoma had reached Ruston, with several burglaries reported early in the year. Locks were a luxury in those days, so Jimmie Debray kept his doors blocked. When someone tried to break into his home, all they did was scare away his poor calf, who ran off dragging a large piece of wood. The calf was recovered the next day, but the wood was too heavy to carry and left in the brush.[22]
There are few residents that can boast of being born and bred within the town borders. One such treasure was Owen Gallagher, who died in 1996 at 83 years young. Owen told of two distinct neighborhoods that had developed by his childhood. Irish immigrants had settled at the north end of town, while a large Croatian population had grown up to the south. Each had their own drinking establishments and fights were common on weekends.[23]
A third generation jewel is Pete Tallman. He recalls that one of the major events for the town was the opening of the bridge on 51st Street in 1941. The bridge replaced a wooden structure and spans the gulch over the Nelson Bennett train tunnel, which had been completed in 1914.[24] The concrete bridge connects the two sides of town and bears a plaque that reads “For a Unified Community.” Pete also told of a common initiation ceremony from his teenage years; that of walking on the busy rail line below the bridge.[25] Teenager’s continue the practice today. Local police are often called to chase them from under the bridge or out of the tunnel.[26] The bridge is on the national historical register and stands closed today, awaiting funds for structural upgrades.
As with Tacoma, World War II was a busy time for Ruston. The council meetings were held in the school gym and each meeting included time to put the names of any young men who were fighting on a display board, adding a star if they were killed in action. That display is still at the town hall today. Neighboring Point Defiance Park and Funland Amusement area were busy recreation destinations for soldiers from Fort Lewis. There were even soldiers and crash boats, used to respond to military plane crashes in the water, permanently stationed at the park during the war.[27] In the interest of national defense, the federal government took over operation of the smelter for a time.[28] By this time, the copper company was named American Smelting and Refining Company, or Asarco.
Ruston had at least one Japanese family that was interned during the war. They operated a laundry on Winnifred Street. The family asked Georgeanne Gallagher to store their belongings in her basement, but her mother had advised against taking on the responsibility. The family apparently did not return after the war.[29]
Ruston’s municipal staff has shown longevity in their positions. Ford Downie served as judge and clerk for 40 years.[30] In 1964, Loretta Prettyman took over as clerk and stayed until 1990.[31] Even though the town elected positions are volunteer, the same principle of longevity has held true for many faithful citizens like Gallager, who served as councilmember and mayor for 32 years, and Mary Joyce, another born and bred treasure, who still holds a council seat after more than 25 years.[32] Incidentally, Owen was of Irish decent and, although they remained friends, was often at political odds over the years with Mary, of Croatian decent.
One of Ruston’s oldest surviving businesses is Ruston Market. The family market began with a bakery near the first school building on Shirley Street. A fire in 1917 burned the entire block and the market moved to its current location at N. 51st and Winnifred Streets. [33] The school was rebuilt and expanded to include the entire block on Shirley Street.
Ruston has always fiercely held to its independence, even though Tacoma had grown to surround it by mid-century. One threat to the smaller town’s identity arose in 1966 when the state cut off special aid to Ruston school because it was no longer considered “remote and necessary”.[34] The school was eventually incorporated into the Tacoma School District, who shut its doors in 1985. There is hope that Asarco will be able to upgrade the building and use it for office space during the environmental clean up of the smelter site.[35]
On the other side of town, the Unicorn Tavern endures as another long-standing Ruston icon. Known as “The Brick” for most of its years due to its brick construction, the business served as a watering hole for smelter workers for many decades. Just down the street, the Krillich Brothers Grocery operated for much of the century. The building still stands, used as living space now, but its story is symbolic of Ruston’s journey.
George was the first Krillich to arrive in Ruston in 1902. He set up a small grocery and eventually brought his wife and brothers from Yugoslavia. He and his three brothers built a boarding house and grocery store upon returning. It opened in 1912. When George died just six years later, his family carried on the business.[36]
Each morning, smelter men would gather in the basement dining room of the store to eat a meal and gather lunch before heading off to work. English as well as native Eastern European tongues were spoken. During the day, the local housewives would visit the grocery on the main floor. The men would gather again on their way home, sometimes a bit unsteady after a respite at The Brick. Several would head upstairs to bed in the cots provided in the boarding section of the building, while others would head home to families housed close by.
The 1950’s brought the use of automobiles and forever changed the face of American culture. No longer were small, local stores needed within walking distance. Krillich Brother’s Grocery closed and laid dormant for three decades. The only activity for the store was in 1971 when the town government ordered the building to be upgraded or demolished.[37] The owner remodeled and sold it in 1985. The doors were opened once again, this time to auction off the contents of the building. Along with groceries still sporting 30-year-old price tags, an antique bean counter and other pieces of history, the dining table that has served so many was sold.[38]
Many of the Krillich family remained close by. George’s son Charlie was born in 1908. At age 70, his routine included a stop each morning at The Brick to cash a check and buy candy, then he wandered the streets of Ruston, passing out treats to local children. His brother Ned was on the Metropolitan Park Board for a time.[39] Mary Joyce is the daughter of one of the Krillich brothers, and spent much of her childhood delivering groceries for the family business.[40]
Politics has always been tumultuous in this little town, perhaps because it is so small. A tiny community compared to its neighbor Tacoma, Ruston enjoys a sense of a close-knit community, where neighbors know and care for each other. But personalities run strong in such a setting, often played out on the stage of the local political scene. One such stormy period was in 1971. John Krillich, a Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner,[41] was appointed chairman of a citizens committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the mayor and town government. Two councilmembers had just resigned from the planning commission and the search was on for a new building inspector.[42]
In 1978, the mayor took the unusual step of appointing the police chief as head of the volunteer fire department. Five firemen resigned, including the fire chief.[43] Doris Sage had just won her council seat with a coin toss after a tie vote with Leo Wingard.[44] Leo, a second generation gem, would continue to battle the town in various ways until he died at 90 years old in 1997. Although not related to town politics, Ruston has seen the violent death of two of its mayors in recent years. Mayor Pete Brudevold was murdered in 1988 and Mayor Phil Parker committed suicide in 1995.[45]
Space does not permit an adequate discussion in this writing, but no story of Ruston would be complete without a brief look at the smelter and its impact on the town. Decades of worry and forecasts of doom for Ruston culminated with the closure of the Asarco plant in 1985. The town saw its annual tax revenue from Asarco drop from $340,000 to $12,000 in 1987,[46] as well as the termination of the final 500 employees. The volunteer fire department was disbanded and the police force cut.[47]
Many predicted that such an event would destroy the small town and force annexation to Tacoma. But stubbornness and love for the community has kept the municipal offices open somehow. By 1993, the giant smelter smokestack was imploded, and that autumn a unique public planning process was begun. The year-long series of workshops brought into focus the dream of reuse for the waterfront property. Those plans culminated in agreements between the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Asarco and the local municipalities in 1997.[48]
Things are starting to improve for this tiny community now. Along with the plans for the smelter property, Asarco has replaced most of the yards in Ruston to remove trace levels of arsenic and lead left in the dirt from plant emissions.[49] Many residents hope for a new image without the stigma of EPA “contamination” issues haunting them.[50] And the fire department was reactivated in 1986.[51]
Ruston’s historical crown has many gems with its second generation citizens. As the third and fourth generations add jewels to the crown, the town will do well to cherish the memories of its elders and hold fast to their wisdom. With the tremendous changes to the town’s fabric underway, the community must gather the stories and record their collective past. Only then can the future be built on a solid, strong foundation for the many generations to come.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Department of Economic Development Block Grant Application, Town of Ruston, 1987.
Dupuis, Carl. Tacoma Smelter, Conservation Corps Writing Project, 1937.
Environmental Protection Agency Fact Sheet, July 1993.
Morgan, Murray. Puget’s Sound. Seattle & London: University of Washington Press, 1979.
Ruston Market & Deli Menu, 1998.
Smith, Marian. The Puyallup-Nisqually. New York: AMS Press, 1935.
Tacoma Daily Ledger, February 1890-June 1908.
Tacoma News Tribune, July 1971-January 1997.
Tacoma Smelter News, September 1920, January 1921.
The Tacoma Sunday News Tribune And Ledger, 17 June 1956.
Town of Ruston Council Meeting Minutes, 1906-1997.
Town of Ruston Criminal Docket, 1912.
Town of Ruston Ordinance Book Number 1.
Town of Ruston Voter Book 1 and 2, 1906.
Footnotes:
[1] Marian W. Smith, The Puyallup-Nisqually (New York: AMS Press, 1935), 11.
[2] Blaine Johnson, “There was a boom in Ruston’s real estate roots,” Tacoma News Tribune, 13 February 1994.
[3] Cheryl Miller, Local Historian, Personal Interview, 5 November , 1997.
[4] Don Duncan, “Ruston’s 759 Make It Little City Within a City,” The Tacoma Sunday News Tribune And Ledger, 17 June 1956.
[5] Carl Dupuis, Tacoma Smelter, Conservation Corps Writing Project, 21 January 1937.
[6] “Who’s Who In The Smelter: Charlie Harry,” Tacoma Smelter News, January 1921.
[7] Caroline Kellogg, “Time Machine: Ruston: memorial to a gifted man with a vision,” The News Tribune, 9 January 1977.
[8] “Ruston More Than Doubles Population and Assessed Valuation in 18 Months,” Tacoma Daily Ledger,
14 June 1908.
[9] “No Town of Swansea,” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 12 February 1890.
[10] Carl Dupuis, Ibid.
[11] “Incorporate a New Town,” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 12 August 1906.
[12] “Smelter Citizens Plan Big Meeting,” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 2 September 1906.
[13] Town of Ruston Council Meeting Minutes, 12 November 1906.
[14] Voter Books 1 and 2: Town of Ruston, 1906.
[15] Ruston Town Council Meeting Minutes, 17 December 1906.
[16] Ordinance Book Number 1: Town of Ruston.
[17] Ruston Town Council Meeting Minutes, 26 November 1906.
[18] “Sampling Department” Tacoma Smelter News, September 1920.
[19] “Ruston More Than Doubles Population and Assessed Valuation in 18 Months,” Ibid.
[20] Criminal Docket: Town of Ruston, 1912.
[21] “Main Office, Casting House Notes, Refinery Notes, Power House,” Tacoma Smelter News,
September 1920.
[22] “Smelting Department,” Tacoma Smelter News, January 1921.
[23] Owen Gallagher, Former Ruston Mayor, Personal Conversation, 4 July 1995.
[24] Murray Morgan, Puget’s Sound, (Seattle & London: University of Washington Press, 1979), 312.
[25] Pete Tallman, Ruston Resident, Personal Interview, 2 February 1998.
[26] Kim Wheeler, Ruston Police Chief, Personal Conversations, 1994-98.
[27] Tallman, Ibid.
[28] Thomas Aldrich, Asarco Site Manager, Personal Conversation, 1995.
[29] Georgeanne Gallager, Ruston Resident, Personal Conversation, 7 March 1998.
[30] “Ruston Panel Fills Positions, Lauds Downie,” The New Tribune, 4 June 1964.
[31] Verna Holbrook, Town of Ruston Deputy Clerk, Personal Interview, 9 March 1998.
[32] Holbrook, Ibid.
[33] “A Little History,” Ruston Market & Deli Menu, 1998.
[34] Ray Ruppert, “Tiny Ruston Facing New Threat Against Its Independent Status,” The News Tribune,
29 January 1966.
[35] Town of Ruston Meeting Minutes, November 1997.
[36] Bob Lane, “Turing pages: 63 years of Ruston history goes on auction block,” Tacoma News Tribune,
2 November 1985.
[37] Bob Lane, “Ruston May Raze Landmark,” Tacoma News Tribune, 6 July 1971.
[38] Bob Lane, 2 November 1985, Ibid.
[39] Howard Ferguson, “Just About People: Charlie’s the candy man for the children of Ruston,” Tacoma News Tribune, 21 September 1978.
[40] Mary K. Joyce, Ruston Councilmember, Personal Conversation, 1991.
[41] Susan Gordon, “Waiting: Asarco-dependent Ruston facing major change in its lifestyle,” Tacoma News Tribune, 13 October 1984.
[42] Bob Lane, “Ruston Mayor Hears Complaints, Rejects Use of Hall for Hearings,” Tacoma News Tribune, 20 July 1978.
[43] Churchill, “Who’s Boss? Ruston firemen resign,” Tacoma News Tribune, 11 October 1978.
[44] Richard Sypher, “Contested Ruston vote faces hearing debate,” The News Tribune, 16 January 1978.
[45] Personal Experience, 1986-97.
[46] Department of Economic Development Block Grant Application, Town of Ruston, 1987.
[47] Dan Vopel, “Ruston firefighters hang up the hose,” The News Tribune, 24 March 1985.
[48] Barbara Clements, “Old Asarco site is destined for business park and green belts,” The News Tribune,
9 January 1997.
[49] Environmental Protection Agency Fact Sheet, June 21, 1993.
[50] Beth Torbet, Ruston Market, Personal Conversation, 1994.
[51] Jim Pickett, Former Ruston Firefighter, Personal Conversation, 8 March 1998.
This small town hertitage is often carried in the memories of the elderly, in the stories they tell, and in the imagination of the young who allow themselves to be transported to a long ago time and place. Such stories can only be protected if told and captured. This paper attempts to preserve a few pieces of Ruston’s heritage, to tell a small number of stories gleaned from the old and wise among us and the documents they have left behind.
Ruston’s legacy is that of the Industrial Revolution, of man’s pride in taming the earth and using its riches to enhance his own life. It was that force that laid the seed for the community when Tacoma business leaders built a smelter on Commencement Bay. In its 100 years of existence, this small town has faced societal changes that devastated its economic base and encountered conflicts within and without its borders. Yet it has survived with a unique identity that only struggle and longevity can produce.
Before European settlers reached this shore, other people likely gathered around ancient campfires on Ruston beaches to tell their own stories. What visitors walked the original hillside in centuries past? History has lost such details, but clearly the neighborhood was known to the original native population. A large village existed at the entrance to Gig Harbor that appeared to have been founded by the Puyallup tribe on Hylebos Waterway in Tacoma.[1] The Ruston shoreline surely saw frequent trips between these two groups. The area was called “Cho-chu-chluth” for the maple trees that grew in the area..[2] The Puyallups used the beach for clam harvesting, and early maps refer to the entire shoreline from Point Defiance to Old Tacoma as the “Salmon Banks”.[3]
During Tacoma’s industrial boom years in the late nineteenth century, several local businessmen formed the Tacoma Milling & Smelting Company and began the process of building a lead smelter. In 1888, the group elected a wealthy St. Paul native, Dennis Ryan, as president and construction began. The first 50 employees [4] fired up the furnace on September 12, 1889 and began melting metal ores that were easily shipped by water and rail.[5] Lumber was scavenged from driftwood as much as possible, and the shoreline began to expand as the smelting byproduct of slag was poured into the bay.[6]
Housing sprang up quickly, nestled on the hillside just outside the smelter gate. The first were boarding homes for the single men who worked at the smelter. As a typical turn-of-the century mill town, the hillside also held a barber and many taverns.[7] In time, single family homes were added to accommodate married families The first was built by Marco Budinich around 1890.[8] The fledgling community considered incorporating as Swansea that same year, so named to mirror the industrial success of Swansea, Wales. But when given assurances that the larger city of Tacoma would not annex them, the idea was dropped.[9] The area was simply referred to as Smelter, or Smelterville for the next decade.
The drive for independence took shape as the smelter changed hands. Ryan was not able to make a profit, and sold the business to the manager W.R. Rust within a year. Rust added the smelting of copper, and business grew. The Guggenheim brothers bought the business in 1905 and added it to their American Smelting Company.[10] Rust continued on as manager and lead the drive to incorporate the small town in 1906, going so far as to direct smelter lawyers to draw up the petition for signatures to begin the process.[11] In the months following, meetings were held for citizens to voice their opinion. Women, who had not yet achieved the right to vote, were even invited to attend the debates.[12] The local citizens named their new town Ruston in Rust’s honor when they officially incorporated on Oct. 22, 1906.
With independence secured, November 1906 saw 121 voters register for the first municipal election. The room over Hank’s Store was designated as the official polling place.[13] Among those early citizens, seven different boarding houses were listed as residences, ranging from Smith’s Store to Point Defiance Hotel. Ohio boasted the most American-born citizens, with one voter native to Washington. Fifty-one were of foreign birth, mostly from Sweden and Norway. The majority worked at the smelter (64), with another 33 in related fields such as laborer, craneman, and foreman.[14]
The first council meeting for the young town was held on Nov. 12, 1906 in the school on the bluff overlooking the smelter. Mayor Austen presided with five new council members. G. H. Wallace was appointed clerk and L. Martin was chosen as marshal. These same officials won their seat in that first election on Dec. 7, 1906.
Those early months included the usual duties of the times. For example, the council instructed the “chairman of the streets and alleys committee to notify Mr. Barney Rhodeseid that he must not tear boards off of the railing on 51st Street for the purpose of getting to his chicken coop, but the council would allow him to put in a small gate which they think will be sufficient.”[15] Ordinance #14 addressed similar issues; “It shall be unlawful for any cow, cattle, horse, mule, goat, sheep, swine...to run at large between the hours of 8 am and 5 p.m.”[16] It is unclear if animals could run at night as they pleased.
In other business, The Ruston Review was designated as the official paper for the Town, with a bill paid on Dec. 31, 1906. No current resident can recall seeing this paper, and it may be that this vital record is gone forever. In keeping with the industrial nature of the community, the first three business licenses to be issued were for saloons.[17]
Major shifts in American culture are illustrated in Ordinance #10, which declared the following to be disorderly persons: “all female persons who loiter in or about saloons or other places where intoxicating liquors are sold or disposed of, making a business of drinking with men and soliciting men to purchase and drink intoxicating liquor.” Yet some concepts are reborn today. Ordinance #13 made it “unlawful for a child under 16 years of age to be upon the public streets or highways of the Town of Ruston after certain hours of the evening.”
Two years after incorporating, the local newspaper ran a headline declaring, “Ruston More Than Doubles Population and Assessed Valuation in 18 Months”. The article notes that residents had no access to Tacoma “but over a poor, ill-kept wagon road”. Most traveled to and from by boat.[18] The town boasted 125 pupils in the Ruston School, a YMCA clubhouse complete with gym, bowling alleys, pool tables and reading rooms for the smelter men, and a Town Hall with a jail cell in the basement. The mayor, Ed Austen, had recently been replaced by Ed Daley.[19]
The early criminal docket also reveals a distant time. On Jan. 12, 1912 a man was sentenced to 33 days for “giving intoxicating liquor to a habitual drunkard.” In April, five days of jail time for disorderly conduct were suspended for two men when they volunteered to leave town. Someone was given a $1 fine for “insulting and using profane language in public.”[20]
By 1920, the town was well established. The Smelter Club was bustling with indoor baseball games in the winter and dances every weekend. Warm weather saw baseball games on the smelter grounds between the refinery buildings. A new hotel was nearing completion, and furnanceman Wes Newman, who had just completed a correspondence course in detecting, was appointed as Ruston’s new Marshall. Prohibition brought complaints from residents, some of whom could not see the point in taking vacation without liquor.[21]
By 1921, the “crime wave” from Tacoma had reached Ruston, with several burglaries reported early in the year. Locks were a luxury in those days, so Jimmie Debray kept his doors blocked. When someone tried to break into his home, all they did was scare away his poor calf, who ran off dragging a large piece of wood. The calf was recovered the next day, but the wood was too heavy to carry and left in the brush.[22]
There are few residents that can boast of being born and bred within the town borders. One such treasure was Owen Gallagher, who died in 1996 at 83 years young. Owen told of two distinct neighborhoods that had developed by his childhood. Irish immigrants had settled at the north end of town, while a large Croatian population had grown up to the south. Each had their own drinking establishments and fights were common on weekends.[23]
A third generation jewel is Pete Tallman. He recalls that one of the major events for the town was the opening of the bridge on 51st Street in 1941. The bridge replaced a wooden structure and spans the gulch over the Nelson Bennett train tunnel, which had been completed in 1914.[24] The concrete bridge connects the two sides of town and bears a plaque that reads “For a Unified Community.” Pete also told of a common initiation ceremony from his teenage years; that of walking on the busy rail line below the bridge.[25] Teenager’s continue the practice today. Local police are often called to chase them from under the bridge or out of the tunnel.[26] The bridge is on the national historical register and stands closed today, awaiting funds for structural upgrades.
As with Tacoma, World War II was a busy time for Ruston. The council meetings were held in the school gym and each meeting included time to put the names of any young men who were fighting on a display board, adding a star if they were killed in action. That display is still at the town hall today. Neighboring Point Defiance Park and Funland Amusement area were busy recreation destinations for soldiers from Fort Lewis. There were even soldiers and crash boats, used to respond to military plane crashes in the water, permanently stationed at the park during the war.[27] In the interest of national defense, the federal government took over operation of the smelter for a time.[28] By this time, the copper company was named American Smelting and Refining Company, or Asarco.
Ruston had at least one Japanese family that was interned during the war. They operated a laundry on Winnifred Street. The family asked Georgeanne Gallagher to store their belongings in her basement, but her mother had advised against taking on the responsibility. The family apparently did not return after the war.[29]
Ruston’s municipal staff has shown longevity in their positions. Ford Downie served as judge and clerk for 40 years.[30] In 1964, Loretta Prettyman took over as clerk and stayed until 1990.[31] Even though the town elected positions are volunteer, the same principle of longevity has held true for many faithful citizens like Gallager, who served as councilmember and mayor for 32 years, and Mary Joyce, another born and bred treasure, who still holds a council seat after more than 25 years.[32] Incidentally, Owen was of Irish decent and, although they remained friends, was often at political odds over the years with Mary, of Croatian decent.
One of Ruston’s oldest surviving businesses is Ruston Market. The family market began with a bakery near the first school building on Shirley Street. A fire in 1917 burned the entire block and the market moved to its current location at N. 51st and Winnifred Streets. [33] The school was rebuilt and expanded to include the entire block on Shirley Street.
Ruston has always fiercely held to its independence, even though Tacoma had grown to surround it by mid-century. One threat to the smaller town’s identity arose in 1966 when the state cut off special aid to Ruston school because it was no longer considered “remote and necessary”.[34] The school was eventually incorporated into the Tacoma School District, who shut its doors in 1985. There is hope that Asarco will be able to upgrade the building and use it for office space during the environmental clean up of the smelter site.[35]
On the other side of town, the Unicorn Tavern endures as another long-standing Ruston icon. Known as “The Brick” for most of its years due to its brick construction, the business served as a watering hole for smelter workers for many decades. Just down the street, the Krillich Brothers Grocery operated for much of the century. The building still stands, used as living space now, but its story is symbolic of Ruston’s journey.
George was the first Krillich to arrive in Ruston in 1902. He set up a small grocery and eventually brought his wife and brothers from Yugoslavia. He and his three brothers built a boarding house and grocery store upon returning. It opened in 1912. When George died just six years later, his family carried on the business.[36]
Each morning, smelter men would gather in the basement dining room of the store to eat a meal and gather lunch before heading off to work. English as well as native Eastern European tongues were spoken. During the day, the local housewives would visit the grocery on the main floor. The men would gather again on their way home, sometimes a bit unsteady after a respite at The Brick. Several would head upstairs to bed in the cots provided in the boarding section of the building, while others would head home to families housed close by.
The 1950’s brought the use of automobiles and forever changed the face of American culture. No longer were small, local stores needed within walking distance. Krillich Brother’s Grocery closed and laid dormant for three decades. The only activity for the store was in 1971 when the town government ordered the building to be upgraded or demolished.[37] The owner remodeled and sold it in 1985. The doors were opened once again, this time to auction off the contents of the building. Along with groceries still sporting 30-year-old price tags, an antique bean counter and other pieces of history, the dining table that has served so many was sold.[38]
Many of the Krillich family remained close by. George’s son Charlie was born in 1908. At age 70, his routine included a stop each morning at The Brick to cash a check and buy candy, then he wandered the streets of Ruston, passing out treats to local children. His brother Ned was on the Metropolitan Park Board for a time.[39] Mary Joyce is the daughter of one of the Krillich brothers, and spent much of her childhood delivering groceries for the family business.[40]
Politics has always been tumultuous in this little town, perhaps because it is so small. A tiny community compared to its neighbor Tacoma, Ruston enjoys a sense of a close-knit community, where neighbors know and care for each other. But personalities run strong in such a setting, often played out on the stage of the local political scene. One such stormy period was in 1971. John Krillich, a Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner,[41] was appointed chairman of a citizens committee to evaluate the effectiveness of the mayor and town government. Two councilmembers had just resigned from the planning commission and the search was on for a new building inspector.[42]
In 1978, the mayor took the unusual step of appointing the police chief as head of the volunteer fire department. Five firemen resigned, including the fire chief.[43] Doris Sage had just won her council seat with a coin toss after a tie vote with Leo Wingard.[44] Leo, a second generation gem, would continue to battle the town in various ways until he died at 90 years old in 1997. Although not related to town politics, Ruston has seen the violent death of two of its mayors in recent years. Mayor Pete Brudevold was murdered in 1988 and Mayor Phil Parker committed suicide in 1995.[45]
Space does not permit an adequate discussion in this writing, but no story of Ruston would be complete without a brief look at the smelter and its impact on the town. Decades of worry and forecasts of doom for Ruston culminated with the closure of the Asarco plant in 1985. The town saw its annual tax revenue from Asarco drop from $340,000 to $12,000 in 1987,[46] as well as the termination of the final 500 employees. The volunteer fire department was disbanded and the police force cut.[47]
Many predicted that such an event would destroy the small town and force annexation to Tacoma. But stubbornness and love for the community has kept the municipal offices open somehow. By 1993, the giant smelter smokestack was imploded, and that autumn a unique public planning process was begun. The year-long series of workshops brought into focus the dream of reuse for the waterfront property. Those plans culminated in agreements between the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Asarco and the local municipalities in 1997.[48]
Things are starting to improve for this tiny community now. Along with the plans for the smelter property, Asarco has replaced most of the yards in Ruston to remove trace levels of arsenic and lead left in the dirt from plant emissions.[49] Many residents hope for a new image without the stigma of EPA “contamination” issues haunting them.[50] And the fire department was reactivated in 1986.[51]
Ruston’s historical crown has many gems with its second generation citizens. As the third and fourth generations add jewels to the crown, the town will do well to cherish the memories of its elders and hold fast to their wisdom. With the tremendous changes to the town’s fabric underway, the community must gather the stories and record their collective past. Only then can the future be built on a solid, strong foundation for the many generations to come.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Department of Economic Development Block Grant Application, Town of Ruston, 1987.
Dupuis, Carl. Tacoma Smelter, Conservation Corps Writing Project, 1937.
Environmental Protection Agency Fact Sheet, July 1993.
Morgan, Murray. Puget’s Sound. Seattle & London: University of Washington Press, 1979.
Ruston Market & Deli Menu, 1998.
Smith, Marian. The Puyallup-Nisqually. New York: AMS Press, 1935.
Tacoma Daily Ledger, February 1890-June 1908.
Tacoma News Tribune, July 1971-January 1997.
Tacoma Smelter News, September 1920, January 1921.
The Tacoma Sunday News Tribune And Ledger, 17 June 1956.
Town of Ruston Council Meeting Minutes, 1906-1997.
Town of Ruston Criminal Docket, 1912.
Town of Ruston Ordinance Book Number 1.
Town of Ruston Voter Book 1 and 2, 1906.
Footnotes:
[1] Marian W. Smith, The Puyallup-Nisqually (New York: AMS Press, 1935), 11.
[2] Blaine Johnson, “There was a boom in Ruston’s real estate roots,” Tacoma News Tribune, 13 February 1994.
[3] Cheryl Miller, Local Historian, Personal Interview, 5 November , 1997.
[4] Don Duncan, “Ruston’s 759 Make It Little City Within a City,” The Tacoma Sunday News Tribune And Ledger, 17 June 1956.
[5] Carl Dupuis, Tacoma Smelter, Conservation Corps Writing Project, 21 January 1937.
[6] “Who’s Who In The Smelter: Charlie Harry,” Tacoma Smelter News, January 1921.
[7] Caroline Kellogg, “Time Machine: Ruston: memorial to a gifted man with a vision,” The News Tribune, 9 January 1977.
[8] “Ruston More Than Doubles Population and Assessed Valuation in 18 Months,” Tacoma Daily Ledger,
14 June 1908.
[9] “No Town of Swansea,” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 12 February 1890.
[10] Carl Dupuis, Ibid.
[11] “Incorporate a New Town,” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 12 August 1906.
[12] “Smelter Citizens Plan Big Meeting,” Tacoma Daily Ledger, 2 September 1906.
[13] Town of Ruston Council Meeting Minutes, 12 November 1906.
[14] Voter Books 1 and 2: Town of Ruston, 1906.
[15] Ruston Town Council Meeting Minutes, 17 December 1906.
[16] Ordinance Book Number 1: Town of Ruston.
[17] Ruston Town Council Meeting Minutes, 26 November 1906.
[18] “Sampling Department” Tacoma Smelter News, September 1920.
[19] “Ruston More Than Doubles Population and Assessed Valuation in 18 Months,” Ibid.
[20] Criminal Docket: Town of Ruston, 1912.
[21] “Main Office, Casting House Notes, Refinery Notes, Power House,” Tacoma Smelter News,
September 1920.
[22] “Smelting Department,” Tacoma Smelter News, January 1921.
[23] Owen Gallagher, Former Ruston Mayor, Personal Conversation, 4 July 1995.
[24] Murray Morgan, Puget’s Sound, (Seattle & London: University of Washington Press, 1979), 312.
[25] Pete Tallman, Ruston Resident, Personal Interview, 2 February 1998.
[26] Kim Wheeler, Ruston Police Chief, Personal Conversations, 1994-98.
[27] Tallman, Ibid.
[28] Thomas Aldrich, Asarco Site Manager, Personal Conversation, 1995.
[29] Georgeanne Gallager, Ruston Resident, Personal Conversation, 7 March 1998.
[30] “Ruston Panel Fills Positions, Lauds Downie,” The New Tribune, 4 June 1964.
[31] Verna Holbrook, Town of Ruston Deputy Clerk, Personal Interview, 9 March 1998.
[32] Holbrook, Ibid.
[33] “A Little History,” Ruston Market & Deli Menu, 1998.
[34] Ray Ruppert, “Tiny Ruston Facing New Threat Against Its Independent Status,” The News Tribune,
29 January 1966.
[35] Town of Ruston Meeting Minutes, November 1997.
[36] Bob Lane, “Turing pages: 63 years of Ruston history goes on auction block,” Tacoma News Tribune,
2 November 1985.
[37] Bob Lane, “Ruston May Raze Landmark,” Tacoma News Tribune, 6 July 1971.
[38] Bob Lane, 2 November 1985, Ibid.
[39] Howard Ferguson, “Just About People: Charlie’s the candy man for the children of Ruston,” Tacoma News Tribune, 21 September 1978.
[40] Mary K. Joyce, Ruston Councilmember, Personal Conversation, 1991.
[41] Susan Gordon, “Waiting: Asarco-dependent Ruston facing major change in its lifestyle,” Tacoma News Tribune, 13 October 1984.
[42] Bob Lane, “Ruston Mayor Hears Complaints, Rejects Use of Hall for Hearings,” Tacoma News Tribune, 20 July 1978.
[43] Churchill, “Who’s Boss? Ruston firemen resign,” Tacoma News Tribune, 11 October 1978.
[44] Richard Sypher, “Contested Ruston vote faces hearing debate,” The News Tribune, 16 January 1978.
[45] Personal Experience, 1986-97.
[46] Department of Economic Development Block Grant Application, Town of Ruston, 1987.
[47] Dan Vopel, “Ruston firefighters hang up the hose,” The News Tribune, 24 March 1985.
[48] Barbara Clements, “Old Asarco site is destined for business park and green belts,” The News Tribune,
9 January 1997.
[49] Environmental Protection Agency Fact Sheet, June 21, 1993.
[50] Beth Torbet, Ruston Market, Personal Conversation, 1994.
[51] Jim Pickett, Former Ruston Firefighter, Personal Conversation, 8 March 1998.
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