Ruston is a city in Pierce County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,055 at the 2020 census.[2]
Although it is nearly indistinguishable from the adjacent city of Tacoma, the predominantly residential area still retains its status as a separate municipality long after it ceased to be a company town.[4] The local government opted to reclassify Ruston as a city in late 2012.
History
In 1890, industrialist William R. Rust established Tacoma Smelting & Refining Company and a company town named the "Smelter District".[5] The company took over an existing smelter that had opened two years earlier and began refining lead;[6] it expanded to more than 300 employees by 1905, with most living in the Smelter District. In 1906, Rust proposed the creation of a new city, which residents named "Ruston" in his honor. Ruston was officially incorporated as a city on November 10, 1906, surrounded on one side by Commencement Bay and all other sides the city of Tacoma.[7]
The Tacoma Smelting & Refining Company was acquired by the American Smelting and Refining Company(ASARCO) in 1905 and its Ruston facility was converted for copper smelting. A prominent brick smokestack was constructed in 1917 and originally measured 571 feet (174 m) in height and was the tallest in the world until it was reduced to 562 feet (171 m) following earthquake damage in 1937.[8] The facility's waste slag was dumped into Commencement Bay for land expansion, while the smokestack produced plumes that polluted portions of Pierce County.[6][9] The smelter closed in 1985 due to a decline in copper prices and new regulations on arsenic pollution;[6] the facility employed 700 people at the time. The smokestack was demolished on January 17, 1993, amid a major environmental cleanup under the Superfund program.[10]
The Superfund cleanup extended to most of the town and required the removal of contaminated soil in and around properties. By 2006, cleanup was largely complete and median home prices had doubled over a three-year period as Ruston became a desirable bedroom community.[9] The Ruston town council passed a measure to become a noncharter code city under Washington law in late 2012. Officials indicated that the "Town of Ruston" moniker would continue to be used.[11][12] Development of residential and commercial buildings on the 97-acre (39 ha) smelter site, renamed "Point Ruston", began in 2013 and the first phase opened the following year.[13] The area, described as an urban village, also includes waterfront parkspace and a multi-use path that connects to Point Defiance Park.[14] The full development of Point Ruston is planned to include 1,200 residential units, a waterfront hotel, and various commercial spaces.[15] The development's properties were later placed in receivership due to failed payments to a lender by the new owners of various phases.[16]
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