Lawson_Nicholson
Lawson Nicholson
American engineer
Lawson Ambrose Nicholson (March 3, 1866 – March 1, 1947) was a Washington State pioneer, engineer, and surveyor. He gained public recognition working on many engineering and municipal tasks during the development of Tacoma, Everett and other cities of northwest.
Nicholson served as City Engineer in Everett, Tacoma, Steilacoom and Ruston. He became a pioneer of Everett at the time of its foundation and was its first City Engineer, serving one term in 1893. Nicholson spent most of his life in Tacoma. He served as Tacoma City Engineer twice, in 1904 and in 1916. The City Council unanimously supported his candidacy.
Nicholson was considered a valuable advisor, and often took charge of important city projects, such as the building of the Tacoma Terminal Company and Tacoma Speedway. He helped build the Tacoma Stadium Bowl and the Ruston Tunnel, which later became the "last visible remnant" of the American Smelting and Refining Company.
Over the years, Nicholson worked as a surveyor in different counties. He was a partner and a senior partner in a number of surveyor firms, working on land survey, litigation, and legal description, municipal projects, and working as an engineer on waterfront and waterways. He took part in court proceedings as an expert in the field. For about forty years, he surveyed plats for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, which manages public lands and aquatic areas of Washington State. Nicholson was engineer for the state harbor line commission, surveyed the Sidney, Marysville, and Snohomish harbors, and created several Tacoma maps.
Citizens of Tacoma paid Nicholson tribute by putting the sign he created, Tacoma's Star of Destiny, near the bronze statue of Allen C. Mason, promoter, who made the sign popular through advertisements in major U.S. newspapers.