LARGEST -- Totem Pole in the World
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 47° 15.347 W 122° 26.234
10T E 542580 N 5233742
There has long been a rivalry between Tacoma and its better known neighbor, Seattle. In 1903, this totem pole was commissioned to be carved for the city, with the sole purpose of being larger than Seattle's famous "largest totem pole".
Waymark Code: WM1FJJ
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 04/28/2007
Views: 87
There has long been a rivalry between Tacoma and its better known neighbor, Seattle. In 1903, this totem pole was commissioned to be carved for the city, with the sole purpose of being larger than Seattle's famous "largest totem pole".
The pole is carved from red cedar and is 105 feet long with 82 feet above ground. It is located in Fireman's Park, high above Commencement Bay.
The park's webpage gives this historical background:
In a small skirmish in the ongoing battle for prominence between Tacoma and Seattle, Tacoma residents William Sheard and Chester Thornes commissioned a totem pole to rival Seattle's. The pole was carved by Indians from the Sitka area of Alaska at a cost of $3,000 and presented to the City of Tacoma in 1903. Since Alaskan Indian totem poles are not allowed to leave their tribes, Sheard brought the Indians to Tacoma and paid all their expenses for a summer while they carved it in the St. Paul and Tacoma Lumber Company yard.
With its deep relief, in contrast to earlier poles with less pronounced relief, this totem pole shows stylistic influences of the Indians of Vancouver Island. This totem pole was claimed to be the largest in the world. When rot threatened it n the 1970s, artist and woodcarver Doug Grannum restored it.