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Tacoma[tukO´mu] Pronunciation Key, city (1990 pop. 176,664), seat of Pierce co., W Wash., on Commencement Bay and Puget Sound at the mouth of the Puyallup River; inc. 1884. It is a major seaport and railroad terminus and one of the chief industrial cities in the Northwest. Once known as the lumber capital of America, it is still an important center for forest-products industries, with a growing high-technology sector. Other industries include chemicals and electrochemical products, paint, bleaches, heavy machinery, minerals, metals and alloys, furniture, clothing, and processed foods. There are also shipyards and many docks.
Points of interest include the nation's tallest totem pole (built in 1903) and Point Defiance Park, containing a zoo, an aquarium, a children's park, a forestry museum, and a reconstruction of Fort Nisqually (1833). The city also an arboretum, a number of art galleries, and the state historical society museum, and is the seat of the Univ. of Puget Sound. A project begun in the 1990s has gone far to rehabilitate the downtown waterfront and is highlighted by the dramatic Museum of Glass: International Center for Contemporary Art (2002). A lilac festival is held annually in the city. Tacoma is the gateway to Mt. Rainier National Park and many recreational areas. The Tacoma Narrows suspension bridge links the city with the Olympic Peninsula; it replaced "Galloping Gertie," which collapsed (1940) in a windstorm four months after it opened. McChord Air Force Base, Fort Lewis (a major army training center), and the state national guard headquarters are nearby.
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