[3] Although it is nearly indistinguishable from the adjacent city of Tacoma, the predominantly residential area still retains its status as a separate municipality long after it ceased to be a company town.

[8] The facility's waste slag was dumped into Commencement Bay for land expansion, while the smokestack produced plumes that polluted portions of Pierce County.

[6][9] The smelter closed in 1985 due to a decline in copper prices and new regulations on arsenic pollution;[6] the facility employed 700 people at the time.

The smokestack was demolished on January 17, 1993, amid a major environmental cleanup under the Superfund program.

By 2006, cleanup was largely complete and median home prices had doubled over a three-year period as Ruston became a desirable bedroom community.

[9] The Ruston town council passed a measure to become a noncharter code city under Washington law in late 2012.

[11][12] Development of residential and commercial buildings on the 97-acre (39 ha) smelter site, renamed "Point Ruston", began in 2013 and the first phase opened the following year.

[13] The area, described as an urban village, also includes waterfront parkspace and a multi-use path that connects to Point Defiance Park.

[14] The full development of Point Ruston is planned to include 1,200 residential units, a waterfront hotel, and various commercial spaces.

[15] The development's properties were later placed in receivership due to failed payments to a lender by the new owners of various phases.

[21] The magnet school Science and Math Institute (SAMi) is at Point Defiance Park, adjacent to Ruston.