Grit City Magazine

05/12/2025

All the rainy gray makes the colors that much brighter.

📷: Michael Weldon

03/12/2025

Mattice carried a lot in our community and that load is now in other people’s hands. The people and things she loved are still here and they need support.

If you always meant to visit her shop but you never got a chance to…
If you went in to chat but never actually bought anything…
If you learned something new about Tacoma from listening to her…
If you care more now because of the example she set…
If you respect her close friends and family and you want to show support without overreaching…

Please go to the GoFundMe and and give what you can: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-mattice-catch-a-break

And if you’ve already given to the GoFundMe and you’re looking for a way to continue her legacy, remember the tenets of community that she lived by:

-Spend your money at local businesses—even if it’s out of your way.
-Go to city council meetings—even if it’s not for something that affects you personally.
-Call people out when they’re fu***ng up—even if it’ll cost you a few followers.
-Don’t just wait to mourn the loss of cultural institutions—do the quiet individual work to keep them thriving.

Pay attention, speak up, and take care of each other.

PS- In case you’re wondering, we made this “press pass” for Mattice leading up to a mayoral debate last July. The political scene will never be the same.

02/12/2025

We're working on this year's map of the best Christmas light displays in Tacoma and we need your input!

If you’ve seen any good ones around town, leave a comment here with an address or cross street and/or shoot us a DM if you have some pictures to share.

We’ll have this year’s list up ASAP but you can always check out the 2024 list if you need something quicker:

https://gritcitymag.com/2024/12/best-christmas-lights-in-tacoma-2024/

27/11/2025

Have you ever wanted to get into nighttime photography?

Our next photo class is Monday December 1st and we have a few spots left.

This class will teach you how to get good photos in any low light situation—with and without the use of lighting equipment.

We’ll talk about which manual settings to use and how to deal with high ISO and the associated degradation of image quality.

We’ll also get into the best kinds of lenses to use for different low light situations and other associated gear.

All skill levels welcome!

✨Special addition to this class, we’ll be doing some light painting at Lumora Theatre, a new experimental art theater opening soon downtown!

➡ December 1st, 7:00-9:30 PM
➡ Check the Eventbrite page for details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/shooting-in-the-dark-low-light-and-long-exposure-photography-tickets-1894138923509

📷: Sierra Hartman

PS- If you’re into the crazy flying sparks photos, be sure to follow on Instagram. He’s the local master of spinning steel wool and we did a whole story about him in Hard Copy 15.

24/11/2025

It never gets old.

📷: Peter Sowell

13/11/2025

Mattice cared about this community the way most of us only care about our closest friends and family. She cared so strongly and so consistently that she made the rest of us care more—about the systems that govern our day-to-day lives, about our actions and how they impact those around us, about education and awareness and seeing beyond our own circumstances.

She lived with a sense of responsibility and pride that is all too easy for people to ignore. She believed that Tacoma is still small enough that we can all take care of each other and look out for our neighbor as long as “we all know what the f**k is actually going on.”

She was authentic in a way that few people are these days. Good or bad, it was never unclear how she felt about you. She said the quiet parts out loud and lived with a kind of irreverence and honesty that you couldn’t help but admire.

She took no s**t and feared no hater. She walked the walk while other people talked and reminded us daily that you don’t need legs to kick ass.

“A society or community is only doing as well as their most vulnerable. So pay attention, even if you feel it doesn’t affect you, because it absolutely does.”
-Mattice Hoyt

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If you have a story to share, feel free to leave it in the comments.

08/11/2025

If you know the significance of this day in history, you probably know the story of Leonard Coatsworth, the TNT reporter whose car fell into The Narrows along with his daughter's poor dog, Tubby.

But what you may not know is that after that fateful day in 1940 his daughter, Gerry Coatsworth, became a minor celebrity after the collapse and got more than a dozen offers for a new dog from all over the country.

She chose a new cocker spaniel puppy and wanted to name her Narrows Bridget. Other accounts said the name was Little Bridget. Either way, they ended up calling her Cobina because her father refused to name her after the bridge.

Also, if you want to see some rare found footage of a different angle of the collapse, be sure to check this out: https://gritcitymag.com/2023/08/the-lost-angle-found-footage-of-the-narrows-bridge-collapse/

And before you go cursing Leonard's name for leaving his daughter's dog in the car, you should know it's not as simple as it sounds.

He tried to get him out but Tubby refused to move. He returned but couldn't make it because of the swaying bridge.

Two more men made attempts to save Tubby before the bridge fell. One couldn't make it all the way and the last one got bitten when he tried.

Leonard was also really broken up about it and wrote in the TNT later that morning, "With real tragedy, disaster and blasted dreams all around me, I believe that right at this minute what appalls me most is that within a few hours I must tell my daughter that her dog is dead, when I might have saved him."

📷: The Library of Congress

07/11/2025

Running a local business is hard but we can help.

There are a lot of problems we can’t fix but we can help shine some light on businesses that need it.

So here’s the deal: If you run a local business and you want a spot on the Bite-sized Sponsor page in our upcoming issue, shoot us a DM. Or if you know someone who should be on the list, tag them in the comments. Our current circulation is about 600 magazines per quarter.

The going rate is $100 for your name, neighborhood, and type of business. This goes on a full spread at the front of our magazine with a heartfelt thank you and a reminder for readers to check the list when they’re deciding where to go for dinner, vintage clothes, home goods, tattoos, hair cuts, etc.

Buuuuut—$100 is not nothing. We get it. Rent is due every month whether your business makes any money or not and we don’t want that to be an obstacle. So if you can’t afford it this time, hit us up anyway and we’ll make it happen.

If you can afford it, though, we’ll happily take your money. We had some amazing support from local businesses last time who stepped up to cover other folks who couldn’t. Special shout out to McCoy Kids, Maddy Mixter - Realtor, Frog Mustard Stickers, WCP Solutions, Print NW, and Wonderland 222.

In Hard Copy 26 we had 40 brick & mortar businesses in Tacoma (listed below) and it made a significant difference in our production costs. We’d love to see even more this time!

Axe Academy
Big Bus Paddlesports
Black Bird Apothecary
Black Sheep Resale
Bluebeard
Boholo Curations
Camp Colvos Brewing + Pizza Co.
D Haberdashery
Doyles Public House
Good Luck Shop
Grit City Made
Grit City Patina
Happy Belly Eatery & Juice Bar
Hard Easy Tattoo
Hive Co.
Ice Cream Social
Intentions Juice Bar
La Paloma
Lil' French Flea Market
Mad Hat Tea Company & the tobin gallery...
Mattice Beauty Supply
McCoy Kids
Narrows Tattoo
Nothin' New
Peaks & Pints
Peppermint Tuna
Peterson Bros. 1111
Poodle Dog Restaurant
Ropa Thrift Store
Rose Hill Barber
Salty Dog
Sojourn Tattoo
South Sound Scooters
Stocklist Goods
Taco Street
Tacoma Knife Sharpening & Mercantile
The Barber Collective
The Hob Nob
The Valley
Three Hearts
Top of Tacoma
Twisted Fork Saloon
Waddington Esthetics
Wooden City

Send a message to learn more

04/11/2025

On the morning of November 3, 1885 a mob of 500 people—including the county sheriff, a US marshal, the fire chief, and the mayor of Tacoma—gathered on Pacific Avenue and walked to an area near modern-day Thea’s Park.

There they found a small neighborhood built by Chinese laborers who had lived and worked in Tacoma during the previous decade.

A month earlier a Chinese business owner named Sun Chong had met with the Mayor to confirm if he and others in his community were actually being forced to leave. The Mayor said yes and reported to the Tacoma Daily Ledger, "I told him, however, that the people were determined this time. That the Chinese did not assimilate with the Caucasian race, that their modes of life were different, that their habits were repugnant to us, that their ideas and thoughts, and ways ran counter to those of the Caucasian and that they were in fact, in all things, diametrically opposed to us, that there could be no compromise, that they must go."

The mob went through each home and told the residents to pack their belongings; they were leaving town that day. Chinese shop owners around the city were subjected to the same eviction notice.

The entire Chinese population of Tacoma was then marched eight miles to a train station and forced to board a train to Portland. Those who could not afford a ticket rode in boxcars or walked along the tracks.

Upon arrival in Portland they were “requested to move on east, where their presence could be tolerated.”

Three days later, the homes that made up Tacoma’s Chinatown were burned to the ground. While a few members of the community objected to the methods used, the mob was met with little to no resistance from the white citizens of Tacoma.

The main organizers—known as the Tacoma Twenty-seven—were eventually indicted but never convicted of any crimes. As news of the events spread, “The Tacoma Method” was applauded as an example for other cities to replicate.

The way we view the people of the past is exactly the way people of the future will view us. The people of 1885 were, from their perspective, living at the epitome of civilization—just like we are now. And they still allowed this to happen.

These weren’t hooligans from rough neighborhoods. These weren’t outside agitators. These were respected citizens, celebrated for their actions and fully sanctioned by the governing authorities.

Justifying the violation of human rights by hiding behind authority figures and unjust laws has a long and tragic precedent—in this city, in this country, and throughout human history.

Looking back with the cultural wisdom of 140 years, any reasonable person would agree that this was a shameful moment in our history. But we do ourselves a disservice by thinking of it only as a thing of the past.

Learn more at tacomamethod.com and at the Chinese Reconciliation Park on Ruston Way.

Photos courtesy of Tacoma Public Library and Washington State Historical Society

03/11/2025

The second round of photography classes are up now!

We'll teach you the basics of digital photography, including all the manual settings you've never really known what to do with.

We're also getting special access to a new venue downtown for some indoor light painting demonstrations during the low light and long exposure class.

Last but not least, we'll be doing a less formal photo walk followed by editing and a voluntary group critique.

Find all the info on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/sierra-hartman-91701698743

📷 Nov 10+17 • 7:00 PM—Intro to SLR/mirrorless photography, including manual settings (2 days)
📷 Nov 24 • 7:00 PM—Shooting in the Dark: Low Light and Long Exposure Photography
📷 Dec 6 • 10:00 AM—Point Defiance forest photo walk

If you have ideas for other photo classes you’d like to see, let us know in the comments!

31/10/2025

"The bodies I live in, they are mine and not mine. I control them, but they retain memories and sometimes act on reflexes and instinct. This body made a noise as it was fed. 'Yum Yum' the loudest of the word-users said, 'It sounds like it is saying Yum Yum.'"

Happy Halloween, Tacoma. Beware the kittens...

Illustration by Nina Hartman The word-users came in their machine, “van” they called it. I do not know why they chosethis place to stop. Their reasons are often confused, even to them. My reasons are simple,I am hungry. “Kitten” is what they called me; they gave me food. It did not have the ...