On July 19, Tacomans interested in learning more about the city’s historic auto row will have an opportunity to participate in “Autowalk,” a free walking tour from 5 to 8 p.m. The event will spotlight the architecture and the dealerships that brought Tacoma into the automotive age. The route will extend from South 9th Street along Broadway to South 7th Street and north on St. Helens Avenue to South 2nd Street. Information booths, route maps, exhibits, and classic cars on display are planned.

The event is co-sponsored by Historic Tacoma and the Tacoma Historical Society with participation by members of the PSC Buick Club, other local car clubs, and the LeMay Museum.

“Downtown Tacoma is known for theaters, great architecture and the renaissance that has saved buildings and brought interest back into the city’s core,” event chair Brett Santhuff said. “Many aspects of downtown’s development can be tracked along with the emergence and evolution of the automobile. In early years, dealerships found a home in warehouse-like buildings with retail sales on the main ground floor and service on secondary levels.”

As Auto Row developed and cars evolved, says Santhuff, so did buildings – from the ornate 1920s Packard dealership to the streamlined 1948 Buick facility, built as Mueller-Harkins and now USA of Yesterday, the last dealership to invest in a building downtown.

“In the era of Auto Row, there was excitement and activity downtown – shopping, entertainment, enterprise – and a number of car dealers,” he said. “Masses would gather in the streets outside papered showroom windows for the unveiling of new cars. Over a season dealers would roll out the new models – Buick, Studebaker, Ford, Pontiac, Chrysler, Chevrolet, Plymouth, Hupmobile, Packard, Dodge, Lincoln, Oldsmobile.”

Autowalk is an effort to raise awareness of Tacoma’s automotive and architectural heritage by engaging residents and exploring this portion of downtown. At the end of the walking tour, participants are invited to join in a no-host gathering at St. Helens Cafe for conversation about historic preservation, automotive history, and economic development.

For more information, visit http://www.historictacoma.net .