Where is tacoma located

The encompassing Seattle -Tacoma- Bellevue metropolitan statistical area is the 15th largest in the United States, and the largest in the northwestern United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, 32 miles southwest of Seattle , 31 miles northeast of the state capital, Olympia , and 58 miles northwest of Mount Rainier National Park.

Tacoma is the Puget Sound 's second largest city, and the third largest city in Washington. Tacoma is the Pierce County seat. The population estimate is , The Tacoma area's original inhabitants, the Puyallup and Nisqually lived here for centuries before European explorers arrived.

Captain George Vacouver was the first European to reach Puget Sound, arriving in and naming the body of water after Peter Puget, one of his officers. By the s, settlers began to arrive, and Nicholas Delin built a cabin and sawmill along the waterfront in , on the site of modern Tacoma. In , the Northern Pacific Railroad chose Tacoma as its western terminus. After the railroad arrived in , Tacoma grew rapidly, the city was incorporated in , and by , 50, people lived here, but it was eclipsed when the Klondike gold rush turned nearby Seattle into a boom town.

In the early twentieth century, Weyerhaeuser Timber Company took a major role in Tacoma's economy, and in , Tacoma became an official U. Port of Entry, the first step toward Tacoma's status as the six-largest container port in North America. By the s, Tacoma may have been best known for the "Aroma of Tacoma" because of the malodorous emissions from the local paper manufacturing plants, but by the s, the problem had been largely solved.

Its elevation is 38 feet above sea level.. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of Rainier in the Puyallup River valley, bordered by mountains. It is about 36 miles south of Seattle. To the northeast is Federal Way. The City of Tacoma is committed to providing high-quality, innovative, and transparent municipal services that enhance lives and grow businesses.

The City operates under a Council-Manager form of government, with eight council members and a mayor. Utility rates are among the lowest in the country. Learn more about Tacoma Public Utilities.

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Like most central cities, Tacoma suffered a prolonged decline in the midth century as a result of suburbanization and divestment. Recently the city has been undergoing a renaissance, investing in the downtown core to establish the University of Washington, Tacoma; Tacoma Link, the first modern electric light rail service in the state; various art and history museums; and a restored inlet, the Thea Foss Waterway. Tacoma, WA Directions.