Tillicum Neighborhood Has Seen Boom, Bust and Now Boom Again

Lakewood's isolated Tillicum neighborhood has seem more than its fair share of changes throughout its history. And more changes are to come in the near future.
 
One of two patches of Lakewood only accessible by Interstate 5, Tillicum is surrounded by American Lake to the west and I-5 to the east. Camp Murray is to the south and Tacoma Golf and Country Club to the north. Its location outside of the contiguous city boundaries often lead people to think that it is not part of Lakewood at all—and it almost wasn't.

Its history is just as interesting as its future.
 
The waterfront community saw its first houses shortly after the turn of the century. A collection of modest homes and summer cottages sprang up and a growing number of Tacoma residents spent their leisure time sunbathing by the lake.

The first boom came in 1917 when Pierce County voters approved a bond to buy land in the area and donate it to the federal government for the creation of what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Houses for workers and military officers mushroomed around the community. What was then called Camp Lewis took shape and soldiers came and went to battle during World War I.

Vacation homes became rentals for soldiers and airmen. The one-time vacation and day-tripping community then saw decades of struggle. Buildings aged, crime went uncontrolled and urban modernization, such as sewer connections, were passed by local government.

Then I-5 came through in the 1950s, cutting the community off from the rest of the growing Lakewood community. That interstate replaced Highway 99.
 
The final incorporation in 1996 included the neighborhood only after the state's Boundary Review Board determined the year before that Tillicum needed special attention that only cities could provide. As a result, inclusion into the new city boundaries became condition of its endorsement. Lakewood in turn focused efforts on more police, code enforcement and human-services programs that gradually took hold. Crime rates fell and property values rose.
 
More changes are on the way as Tillicum properties connect to the $18 million sewer extension Lakewood started in 2005 and completed in the fall, some 30 years after the rest of what is now the city jumped from septic to sewer service.