In the early twentieth century, Stadium High School’s grounds were among the best in the region. The stunning gardens were thanks to Bill Herdman, an immigrant English gardener in charge of grounds keeping for the Tacoma School District.

From England to the United States

Thomas William Herdman was born on June 22, 1871, to Henry (1827-1898) and Sarah Carr Herdman (1834-1905) at Hexham in Northumberland. He usually went by William or Bill. The youngest of four children, his father worked as a cartman, agricultural laborer and farmer.

Herdman began working in his youth, later joking that he’d been born with a shovel in his hand. He was a gardener at Buffelen, a “castle” in Newcastle. During this time, Herdman won his first flower contest (after five tries), sponsored by the National Chrysanthemum Society, competing against professionals.

The 1911 English census records him as a market gardener living with his sister Margaret on Green Street in Simonburn.

But opportunity beckoned in America. Herdman boarded the Merion in Liverpool, arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on February 14, 1912. He hoped to farm in Gig Harbor. But finding the land too “uncultured” and nothing like England, he decided to try his luck in Tacoma.

Bill Herdman Tacoma
Stadium High School students place a Memorial Day wreath at a tree planted in front of the school to honor alumni killed during World War I. Herdman was in charge of selecting and planting the trees. Photo courtesy: Tacoma Public Library, Richards Studio D11540-11

An Englishman in Tacoma

Herdman began working as Lincoln High School groundskeeper in 1913. His talent and hard work were quickly recognized, and he became head gardener for the Tacoma School District. He managed landscaping at all schools in the district, as well as maintaining the play and sports fields.  

His best work was at Stadium High School, where he lived in the caretaker’s cottage near the tennis courts. Also called the “Cliff Cottage” or “Stadium Cottage,” it had sweeping views of Commencement Bay. Behind his home was a greenhouse where he tended to and propagated the flowers and shrubs that beautified the school campuses throughout Tacoma, some of them rare English imports. Herdman took great pride in his work. While he had men working for him, he planted all new trees himself.

Herdman’s landscaping centered on flowers. His dahlias, including rare varieties from Scotland, and gladiolas frequently won prizes at flower shows and the Western Washington State Fair. He also provided cut flowers for school meetings.

Although he had many offers from wealthy homeowners to work for them, Herdman remained loyal to the school district, which he felt had always been fair to him. He became an American citizen in 1920.

Herdman was in charge of planting 12 trees at Stadium to honor alumni who lost their lives in World War I. He also personally donated a tree to Sherman Elementary School in celebration of the bicentennial of George Washington’s birth in 1932.

Touchdown for Bill Herdman

Herdman’s other primary job was keeping the football fields in shape. It was an arduous task. After 25 years, he could joke to the newspapers that he had finally learned the trick in 1941. He won praise that year for getting the Stadium field ready for a Washington State vs. Texas A & M game after heavy rains. After what he called “slicking” (dragging) the field over a dozen times, the field was damp but serviceable. No wonder a News Tribune sportswriter wanted to nominate him for (imaginary) title 1942 “All-American Field Lime Striper.”

Generations of the Stadium football team beloved Herdman. A frequent guest of honor at their gatherings, he was labeled “football coach-without-portfolio” by News Tribune reporter Dan Walton. He encouraged the team and sometimes directed plays.

John Heinrick (team mentor and later College of Puget Sound athletic director) remembered one such time. Before a tough championship game against Everett, Herdman was called in to give the nervous team a pep-talk. The gist of it was, Heinrick recalled: “You’re better than they are. Just go out and get that ball across the goal line!” The team would credit their hard-won victory that day to Herdman, after overcoming Everett’s 6 to 0 lead at halftime.

Bill Herdman Tacoma
Bill Herdman (kneeling) giving a pep-talk to the Afifi Shriners bowling team in 1946. Besides flowers, bowling was Bill Herdman’s passion. “I never bowl for ribbons or financial lettuce,” he told the Tacoma Times in 1941. He just loved the game. Photo courtesy: Tacoma Public Library, Richards Studio D24861-3

Bowling Champion Big Bill

Herdman loved sports. “Big Bill” (he was six feet tall) enjoyed tennis, golf, and horseshoes. He also umpired Stadium High School faculty baseball games. But his favorite sport was bowling. Even injuries couldn’t stop Herdman from playing. While cranking his car’s engine in 1925, the handle kicked back, shattering his right arm and dislocating his wrist. It should have ended his bowling career, but he wouldn’t let it.

The gardener was one of Tacoma’s best bowlers. He belonged to (and captained) many teams over the years. Initially playing with the YMCA and Elks, he helped found the Tacoma Bowling Association in 1934 and served as its president until 1940. He was also an officer with the Northwest International Bowling Congress and the American Bowling Congress.

A champion bowler, he played games around the region and attended American Bowling Congress competitions with the team “Tugboat Annies,” sponsored by Henry Foss.

During World War II, Herdman led the bowling division of the Tacoma War Athletic Commission, which encouraged civilian sports for wartime fitness. He organized tournaments to pay for sports equipment for the military.

In 1964, Herdman was among the first inductees into the Greater Tacoma Bowling Association’s Hall of Fame.

Bill Herdman Tacoma
As head gardener for the Tacoma School District for decades, English immigrant Bill Herdman turned campuses into riots of color with flowers. Dressed for work, he showed off his prize-winning dahlias in front of Stadium High School in 1948. Photo courtesy: Tacoma Public Library, Richards Studio D35486-1

Bill Herdman’s Legacy  

Bill Herdman retired in the late 1940s as his health declined from diabetes. He passed away on August 9, 1952. A member of the Masons, they organized his funeral.

From former students to bowling buddies, the bachelor was mourned by many. Sports writer Dan Walton eulogized him as “the sometimes gruff speaking but always warm-hearted old Englishman” who had been “almost as much a part of Stadium as the revered brick walls of the Castle.”