When we first started construction on the Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. brewery and taproom at 610 Pacific Ave, we had a pretty good feeling that there was more to our old building than we originally thought. We soon discovered evidence of a structure beneath our floor that had been completely filled in with dirt. We’re not sure if it was a basement to the existing building or perhaps an older structure and our building was simply built on top. Whatever it was, we found evidence of several rooms and what appeared to be a brick chimney.
Fast forward several months to June. We knew there was access to Tacoma’s fabled underground right outside our building that was covered by a layer of old, rotting wood. The City knew it as well and decided that since we’re already in the thick of things, now would be a good time to cover it properly so no pedestrian would fall in.
Good call, but easier said than done.
Not only did we have to remove the wood covering the hole in the ground, we had to remove a couple hundred square feet of pavement surrounding it. Doing so exposed giant timbers that were likely part of the original Pacific Avenue wood sidewalk built in the 1800’s.
Covering the hole and reinforcing the sidewalk was a setback for the brewery, but it was cool to climb down into the underground with a flashlight and poke around. We could clearly see the walls to our “basement,” the area underneath the alley between our building and Old City Hall, and several drain pipes. Check it out:
An old wood sidewalk?
Entry to the Underground!
A view from underground.
Looking West into an area between Old City Hall and Pacific Brewing.
No evidence of a tunnel system was found, but we’d like to think its there…just beyond another layer of wood and stone and just a matter of time before more of Tacoma’s underground is rediscovered.
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