FIFE

A short history of Fife

The lower Puyallup basin is the ancestral home of the Puyallup people, who were relocated after the signing of the Medicine Creek Treaty in 1854. The treaty ceded Puyallup lands and created the Puyallup Indian Reservation, which was expanded to include modern-day Fife. The land on which the city sits was lost after the signing of the General Allotment Act in 1887 and other land transfers that were later resolved in a 1990 claims settlement.

The first white settlers arrived in the late 1890s. Fife may have been named for William J. Fife, a prominent Tacoma lawyer, Yukon prospector, once head of the Washington National Guard, and a lieutenant colonel in the field during the Philippine–American War. There is also a historic county of Scotland and former Pictish kingdom called Fife, which could also be a source of the city's name.

In 1940, Fife was described as "at a valley crossroads in the midst of a thickly settled berry growing and truck-gardening district is represented by a string of markets, taverns, shops, and a large, balloon-roofed dance hall along the highway." The 1940 population was 135. It had a large Japanese American population until Executive Order 9066 forced residents into internment camps.

Fife was officially incorporated on February 11, 1957, with approximately 850 residents. The city had been created to prevent the annexation of its business district by Tacoma and to give the area a distinct identity. Joe Vraves was elected as Fife's first mayor and served in that position until becoming a Pierce County councilmember in 1981. The Pacific Highway (U.S. Route 99) was replaced by Interstate 5 (I-5), which opened through Fife on October 10, 1962. The freeway's opening led to new commercial development in Fife, including those catering towards motorists, that brought high sales tax revenue to the city.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Fife, Washington, revision 1377346885 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.