Secret Tacoma: A Guide to the Weird, Wonderful, and Obscure

by Chris Staudinger

Secret Tacoma is a celebration of the best parts of Tacoma. This book is a champion for a city with an underdog reputation. The city wasn't always the underdog, though. Tacoma was once the most important city on the west side of Washington, and it served as the terminus for the transcontinental railroad's northern route. Now you can discover all the hidden clues about this wonderful city's past. From outlandish mansions to the largest private collection of cast iron in the world, there are so many hidden parts of Tacoma that should be cherished. Discover why there is a Liberty Bell hidden in a bush and a coffee pot–shaped building that used to have monkeys inside. Tacoma once hosted some of the most exciting innovations, like the world's longest wheat warehouse and the first police crime lab in the nation. It also welcomed visionaries like Mark Twain and George Francis Train, the man who inspired Around the World in 80 Days. All of these incredible people left behind clues and hidden hangouts today, like the abandoned bathhouse beneath a family restaurant; you just need to know where to look to find them. This book is your treasure map to Tacoma's best secrets.

192 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2025

Reviews

[Staci Moran webb]

If you live anywhere near Tacoma, or plan to visit, this is a must have guide. Filled with so many interesting facts and places to visit. So many of the places I have passed by several times and had no idea the history behind it,or why that stature is there. I loved it!

[Marti]

Fun read for Tacoma folk — and a great gift for ex-pats!

[Lauri Cherian]

Pick up a copy of Chris Staudinger's Secret Tacoma and you will want to take a Pretty Gritty walking tour or hop into your car and drive to the destinations in the City of Destiny, Tacoma, Washington.

[Mary]

2.5 for a variety of reasons, but elevated to 3 for addressing the city where I live! Well, adjacent, but yeah, Tacoma!

What this book really needed was some type of logical organization, either chronological (many of the sections deal with events in Tacoma's history) or geographic, based on the locations involved. Instead, the author gives us a randomly ordered sampling of 2-page "chapters," each on a different element of Tacoma.

My other issue with this book: the awkward, juvenile-sounding writing style. Simplistic sentences with grammatical and editing errors abound, such as use of "by" to mean "near." He calls the Snake Lake Nature Center "Snake Lake Paradise," a true misnomer as Paradise is a National Park lodge on Mount Rainier! It's a lovely little park, but calling it paradise must represent his singular opinion.

Errors abound! The clock tower on Bridgeport was removed in 2023: certainly this 2025 book should reflect that! "Point Defiance got one of its best features then..." ??? His awkward page on our lovely park doesn't mention that the 5-Mile-Drive has been closed to car traffic since May 2022. And he neglects to mention one of Tacoma's true stars, the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium!

Thank you for writing a book about my city/area, Mr. Staudinger, but please utilize a good editor and publish a revised edition.

[Sarah]

Why on earth is there no map in this book? A state/regional map would help out-of-area readers and non-West Coast-based tourists. A city-only map would be useful for regional readers and stay-cation types.

The intro doesn't address the order/organization for the stops included, and any organization method isn't obvious, if one exists at all... Stops inside the same larger park, for example, aren't continguous but have off-campus spots between the entries. Any reason why the author chose these spots but not other local highlights isn't addressed.

Not recommended, except for very local libraries with explicit patron requests. Each tour spot gets only 2 pages, which includes 2 pictures, so space for detail, explanation, and history is extremely limited. The amount of text for each stop is further hampered by a weirdly large font size. Each spread, therefore, raises more questions than it has space to answer. Readers will be best served by approaching this with a good working knowledge of other reference sources and ample patience to pause for outside research.

Program topics: not currently recommended for programming

Discussion prompts: not currently recommended for book discussion groups

[Daryl]

For the past couple of weeks I have been taking this treasure map to all that is quirky, wonderful, weird, and gritty about Tacoma, WA, as a personal travel guide, and it has been an eye-opening experience. Of the eighty-eight or so featured locations, only a handful are no longer in existence, and, thus, only discoverable in the imagination. The rest... make for accessible travel destinations that help to bring new life to odd corners of this town.

Today, it was the Trashasaurus Rex, and Ivan the Gorilla's old domicile at the B&I. Tomorrow, it might be Tacoma's replica of the Liberty Bell.

If you live in or near Tacoma, or just plan to visit someday, this book is a great place to begin your adventure.

[Andrew West]

I love reading books about areas that I visit or live, and since moving to the Tacoma area, I've been looking for something like this.

[Caity]

what a fascinating book! fun little tidbits about my hometown. helps this homesick native feel a bit closer to home 3000 miles away

[Meredith Kaupp]

So much fun - I really need to pay better attention to the cool stuff in my hometown.