We Are Located At
5436 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, WA 98409
Discover South Tacoma Way
South Tacoma Way is one of Tacoma’s oldest and most interesting business districts, a neighborhood built by railroads, automobiles, independent businesses and generations of people who have called South Tacoma home.
Long before it became South Tacoma Way, the area was known as Hunt’s Prairie. That changed dramatically in 1890 when the Northern Pacific Railway moved its massive railroad operations from downtown Tacoma to South Tacoma. The railway shops opened in 1891 and eventually employed around 1,000 people, performing railroad repair work for Northern Pacific operations throughout the West. A neighborhood quickly grew around those workers, bringing homes, hotels, restaurants, shops, banks and entertainment to what became the South Tacoma Business District.
The street itself was originally known as Union Avenue before becoming South Tacoma Way. As automobiles replaced rail travel, the neighborhood reinvented itself again. South Tacoma Way became part of historic Highway 99, the major north-south highway through the region before Interstate 5. Car dealerships, garages and specialty automotive businesses filled the corridor. By 1956, South Tacoma Way had earned the nickname “Automotive Main Street of the Pacific Northwest,” with dozens of automobile-related businesses lining the street.
You can still see that history today.
Many of the storefronts along South Tacoma Way date to the early decades of the 20th century, giving the neighborhood something increasingly difficult to find: a genuine old-fashioned commercial district filled with small, independent businesses.
Wait…South Tacoma Had an Airport?
It did.
From 1936 until 1973, the South Tacoma Airport operated just north of South 56th Street near South Tacoma Way. Covering roughly 70 acres, the airfield stretched approximately 5,500 feet and at one time included two runways, aircraft fueling and a substantial repair operation.
By the 1950s and 1960s, South Tacoma Airport was believed to be the second-largest private airport in Washington State.
Pilots once took off and landed just blocks from the storefronts of the South Tacoma Business District.
Today, the airplanes and runways are gone and much of the former airport property has become industrial land. But there’s still a little reminder hiding in plain sight.
The Airport Tavern at 5406 South Tacoma Way still carries the name of the neighborhood’s aviation past.
It’s one of those wonderfully strange pieces of South Tacoma history that makes this neighborhood so much fun to explore. Before there were vintage shops, restaurants and small businesses lining the district, South Tacoma had already been a railroad town, a stop along historic Highway 99, an automobile district…
and, for nearly four decades, an airport neighborhood.
Old Tacoma Meets New Tacoma
Today, South Tacoma Way is experiencing another chapter.
Historic buildings now house coffee shops, restaurants, artists, vintage stores, specialty retailers and other locally owned businesses. Rather than trying to turn the neighborhood into another polished shopping center, much of what makes South Tacoma special is precisely what has survived.
It’s a little historic. A little quirky. A little unexpected.
And very Tacoma.
Grab locally roasted coffee at Bluebeard Coffee Roasters STW, pick up handmade bagels at Howdy Bagel, or stop for a burger and beignets at Radnor’s Burgers & Beignets.
If vintage is more your thing, wander through Studio 56 Collective, where Mid-Century Modern, Hollywood Regency, vintage furniture, art and unusual finds fill a beautifully curated space.
Stop into CraftyAF, where creativity is encouraged, perfection is absolutely not required, and you’ll find classes, hands-on projects, local art and plenty of reasons to make something weird and wonderful.
And, of course, you’ll find Manic Mermaid at 5436 South Tacoma Way, filled with hand-selected crystals, minerals, fossils, meteorites, jewelry, locally made goods and unusual treasures from around the world.
A Neighborhood Worth Exploring
One of our favorite things about South Tacoma Way is that it isn’t a manufactured destination. It’s a real neighborhood with more than a century of stories behind its storefronts.
The district has been home to railroad workers, merchants, mechanics, restaurateurs, artists and entrepreneurs. Buildings that once housed automobile dealerships, banks, theaters and neighborhood businesses are still part of the streetscape today.
In fact, South Tacoma has retained so many of its early commercial buildings that historians have spent years documenting the architecture and stories found along the corridor.
So when you visit, look up.
Some of those brick storefronts have been standing here for more than 100 years.
Then start opening doors.
You never quite know what you’re going to find on South Tacoma Way.
Come Spend a Day in South Tacoma
South Tacoma Way makes an easy destination for an afternoon of exploring Tacoma. Have breakfast or coffee, browse vintage furniture and locally owned shops, hunt for something unusual, grab lunch and discover a part of Tacoma that still feels distinctly local.
And while you’re exploring, come see us at:
Manic Mermaid
5436 South Tacoma Way
Tacoma, Washington
We’re an independently owned Tacoma crystal, mineral and gift shop specializing in hand-selected crystals, minerals, fossils, meteorites, jewelry, artisan goods and one-of-a-kind treasures.
But mostly, we’re very happy to call South Tacoma Way home.