Then and Now: South End of the Thea Foss Waterway

Then and Now: South End of the Thea Foss Waterway. . In 1895, the spot where you are standing was a grain warehouse. Neighbors along this shore included a shingle mill, foundries, machine shops, and more warehouses, holding seafood, produce, dairy, cement, lime, and other trade goods. Much of the tideflats across the waterway was inundated during high tide, and little development had occurred. A few sawmills and Northern Pacific's railroad yard were located on drier sections of the tideflats., At mid-century, this was the site of Graystone of Tacoma, a concrete distributor. Neighbors included manufacturers of plywood, cement, furniture, and wood flour (used to make laminates and plastics). There were transportation and shipping companies, as well as a few businesses storing and trading in fuel oil. Log booms floated nearby. Immediately across the waterway, on the tideflats, were large warehouses holding produce and other goods. Fill material, some of it from the dredging of this waterway, had raised the tideflats above high tide., As of 2020, this end of the Thea Foss Waterway is barely industrial. There are condominiums, a world-class museum, restaurants, pleasure-craft marinas, and parks on this side of the waterway. Directly across, more marinas and professional offices crowd the shoreline. The railyards, manufacturers, and warehouses are mostly located off the waterway, deeper into the tideflats.