Ruston

by Karen Pickett

Founded by aspiring industrialist William Rust to maintain political control over the area surrounding his smelter, the town of Ruston has been the center of much larger political battles than its small size would imply. Even as the Guggenheim empire bought and integrated the smelter into its American Smelting and Refining Company (Asarco) in 1905, the small community flourished outside the smelter gates with homes, shops, and more than its fair share of boarding houses and taverns for the working men. Incorporated in 1906, the company town remained fiercely loyal to Asarco as national environmental battles were fought over smelter operations and impacts in the 1970s. Once the smelter furnaces cooled in 1985 and its stack tumbled in 1993, new residents upgraded the working-class neighborhood into a high-end enclave with panoramic views of Commencement Bay, Mount Rainer, and the Olympic Mountains.