Gig Harbor Now and Then | The lost machinist
Jun 30, 2025Albert Fleuss, a machinist whose work was critical to Gig Harbor’s early fishing fleet, deserves the same recognition as his successor.
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Behind The Finds, Part 6: Don Wolford and his three-piece suits
Jun 30, 2025In the early 1900s when Tacoma was still figuring out what kind of city to be, Don Wolford knew exactly who he was. He became a longtime Tacoma businessman, married his longtime girlfriend, had a child and scored a beachfront property.
Two in Tow & On the Go | Tacoma’s Mountaineer Tree is a giant of the forest
Jun 13, 2025The Mountaineer Tree is an approximately 218-foot-tall living legend that’s called Tacoma home since the 1500s.
Gig Harbor Now and Then | A nationally famous Gig Harbor fishing boat worker
Jun 02, 2025Our previous Gig Harbor Now and Then column featured two questions of local history, both concerning Gig Harbor’s commercial fishing fleet. They are: Of all the men and women who worked on Gig Harbor commercial fishing boats, from 1868 to the present day, who was the best known during their time on a boat? Of all
Gig Harbor Now and Then | The best-known Gig Harbor fishing boat worker
May 19, 2025He or she played the part of The Wind in their elementary school’s production of the play Rumpelstiltskin, which should make the answer obvious.
Behind the Finds | Photos tell story of a family, a house and a neighborhood
May 13, 2025John and Leta Wolford were bound for the west coast, chasing the promise of steady work with the Northern Pacific Railroad in Tacoma when they moved into 5611 S. Oakes Street in Tacoma. See the changes to the house over the years.
Gig Harbor Now and Then | Behind the Finds: Chuck Sharman
May 05, 2025Chuck Sharman and Bob Mitchell graduated from high school together, joined the Navy together and were reported dead together in Pearl Harbor. They lived remarkable lives after that.
Gig Harbor Now and Then | Notable scoundrels of the peninsula
Apr 21, 2025Benjamin Pardee, whose many swindles included selliong fish oil on Fox Island, was a real snake-oil salesman.
Gig Harbor Now and Then | A freight railroad for Gig Harbor
Apr 07, 2025In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Frank C. Ross had several grandiose plans to build a freight railroad through Gig Harbor. None of them came especially close to fruition.
Behind the Finds | Georg, Brigida and John Wolford
Mar 31, 2025Last week, we told you about Jean Wolford, the little girl who bears a striking resemblance to the author’s niece. Here’s how Jean — whose photo was found in a secondhand store in Port Orchard — came to be a Wolford, instead of a Hauswirth (or a Houseworth).