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Public Utilities HistoryLink.org Essay 5025 : Printer-Friendly
Format Tacoma’s electrical and water utilities, its industrial
railroad, and its telecommunications system all grew out of a
need to serve the community coupled with frustration at the
ability of private companies to provide services. After more
than 100 years of operation, Tacoma Public Utilities operates a
wide network of dams, reservoirs, pumping and power stations,
and a small but vital railroad. In 1884, Philadelphia capitalist
and railroad man Charles B. Wright (1822-1898) organized the
Tacoma Light and Water Co. with a franchise from the City
Council. The company drew drinking water from several creeks and
distributed it through pipes made from hollowed-out logs. He
used the flow to power a small dynamo that first lighted Tacoma
streets in late 1885. With the monopoly of the franchise, he
could charge what the market would bear and customer service was
an afterthought. By 1890, Taco