Wicked Tacoma

Jail breaks, kidnappings, and a cult leader.

Tacoma, the city where the rails meet the sails, has always been a place of innovation and rule-breakers. When the railroad came in the 19th century, business boomed, and so did smuggling, bootlegging, and prostitution. Men such as Peter Sandberg walked the line between criminal and respectable. Police in the growing town had their hands full not just with human criminals, but stray cows, ducks, and the occasional bear. Rumor has it that in the 1920s, gangsters Lucky Luciano and Frank Nitti were sent to cool their heels in the port city and may have been behind a smoke bomb attack on a movie theater.

Join author Karla Stover as she delves into the wild and colorful past of the City of Destiny.