Once Upon A Time...
Lucius
R. Manning, the original owner of this estate, was responsible for procuring the
land at Commencement Bay for the Northern Pacific Railroad Terminus. This was a
critical step in establishing trade with the Orient in the late 1800's.
The
fan shown here was presented to Manning by the China Trade commission at the
first anniversary of the opening of the port. The Chinese characters along the
side tell us that the China Trade commission presented these fans to honor those
entrepreneurs, both in China and America, for having the vision and cooperative
spirit to establish trade between the 2 countries.
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The
Pacific Rim Connection
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And the race was on! (above is an actual tugboat race from
the 1996 Maritime Festival in Tacoma -- the race included tugs from the 1800's).
Both Seattle and Tacoma had their eye on becoming the center of trade
in the Pacific Northwest. Tacoma made a couple of critical mistakes - they
expelled their Chinese population in 1885 and did not allow any Chinese to
settle in the area until 1920. Chinese businessmen and their families were put
on trains to Seattle and Portland, thus ensuring that both cities would
establish strong trading links with China -- many Chinese shipping companies
boycotted Tacoma's port in response to the treatment that was given to their
fellow men.
The second error was timing. Seattle grew weary of the many delays in
Tacoma's railroad project. Finally, several of the Seattle "rowdies"
set up their own railroad. Although the railroad was hastily thrown together,
it once again proved that an idea quickly executed is often far superior to
something better conceived but late to the table.
One businessman from
the early 1900's gave an interesting summary of the contrasts between the two
communities. He maintained that a gentleman should live in Tacoma and invest in
Seattle (remember, during that era most of Seattle's funding came from taxing
the "seamstresses" of Seattle, a great number of plucky, attractive
women who knew better than to call out their true profession on tax forms).
Lucius
Manning appeared to have followed the above advice. He went on to open the
Pacific Bank in Tacoma, then started his own investment firm, undoubtedly taking
advantage of Seattle's strengths in managing his Tacoma clients' portfolios.
Business was good - he maintained a half page advertisment for his services in
the Polk directory during his entire career.
The Mannings were also
responsible for bringing the concept of landscape gardening to the Pacific
Northwest. When most people were hauling rocks out of their yards, the Mannings
were hauling them into the yard. The same architect who designed Wright
Park (27 acre park 3 blocks away) also designed the grounds for the Manning
Estate.
The newspapers made fun of them, but no one could deny the beauty of
the rolling grounds and greenery spilling from the rocks on the hillside, once
the gardens had matured. People came from miles around to wonder at the
hillside marvel. Chinaberry Hill retains a small portion of the original
gardens, with 30-40 foot evergreens, maples, and cherry trees, ferns, foxglove,
and roses, and rock walls supporting great trunks of ivy and 100+ year old
rhododendron "trees".
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Washington State History - railroad - ferry - Pacific
Rim - China trade - Bed & Breakfast Inn - Tacoma - Seattle - Puget Sound -
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