City of Ruston history

The Tacoma Smelting Company began operating on September 17, 1890, when the furnaces were fired up at the smelter located on 160 desolate acres between the northern limits of the city of Tacoma and Point Defiance.

The Benjamin Harrison administrationThe Sherman Antitrust ActThe silver issueThe McKinley tariffThe agrarian revoltThe PopulistsThe election of 1892

The 1900 census found around 300 people living in what had come to be called the Smelter District.

In 1903 it expanded to include copper smelting.

In 1905 Rust sold the plant to the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), a consortium of mines and smelters led by the Guggenheim family of New York.

On September 21, 1906, Fogg appeared before the Pierce County Board of County Commissioners on behalf of the Smelter District residents to file their petition to hold an election to vote on incorporation as a city of the fourth class.

With the election date scheduled, residents met at the schoolhouse on September 23 to nominate the first municipal officers, who would serve through January 1, 1907.

By the 1910 census the official population of Ruston was 780.

By 1912 lead production had ended; the company converted the plant to a specialized “custom” copper smelter with a focus on inexpensive low-grade copper ores contaminated with arsenic.

In 1916 the WFM local became Mine, Mill and Smelterworkers, Local 25.

Built in 1917 the Ruston stack stood 571 feet tall, making it the largest industrial structure on the west coast.

Front Street was renamed to Ruston Way in 1926, and became the main thoroughfare connecting Ruston and Tacoma.

World War IIThe road to warThe United States at warWar productionFinancing the warSocial consequences of the warThe 1944 electionThe new United States role in world affairs

The peak Cold War years, 1945–60The Truman Doctrine and containmentPostwar domestic reorganizationThe Red ScareThe Korean WarPeace, growth, and prosperityEisenhower’s second termDomestic issuesWorld affairsAn assessment of the postwar era

From its opening before Christmas in 1946 to its fiery end, the 700-person capacity Top of the Ocean restaurant was a favorite among Tacoma diners.

By the late 1950's, it was decided that a new interstate highway was to be built that would run through the northern edge of the city.

In 1967 Mine-Mill merged with the United Steelworkers which, today, is the main union involved with smelting operations nationally.

In 1968, the city purchased more waterfront property to support the idea for Ruston Way as a “quality waterfront attraction.” It was this forward thinking that allowed Ruston Way to be a key facet of the city’s waterfront amenities, even to this day.

Completed by the early 1970's this coast-to-coast highway made Ruston more easily accessible, much as the railroad had done a century before.

The smelter continued operating until 1985 when the Environmental Protection Agency forced its closure.

Sullivan, Marianne. “Game Without End: politics, pollution, public health and the Tacoma Smelter.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Columbia University, 2008.