Seattle, Washington

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Seattle History

1880s-1910s - The Seattle Tenderloin

In an area where Pioneer Square is today was known as the Whitechapel, "Tenderloin District" (Seattle's Tenderloin), the "underworld", the restricted district, or redlight district. The Seattle Post-intelligencer calls the neighborhood "worse than Sodom and Babylon"[1], a 1902 article from The Seattle Republican compares it to "Sodom and Gomorrah, Carthage and Rome"[2]. The neighborhood was home to many communities of color and other poor communities, and unfortunately was known for debauchery and violent crime. Police would regularly conduct raids against dance halls (burlesques) and parlors[3]. There were many attempts to shut down the district, but rarely ended up successful. An edict in February 1891 attempted to close all bordellos and gambling houses[4,5]. Several times the city considers moving the district to other areas at the request of business organizations[6]. Again in August 1908, the city and police attempted to fully close the Tenderloin District[7]. In 1911, Mayor Hiram C. Gill was recalled over his leniency to the district[8,9]. It would be one of the first votes women in Seattle could participate in with newly gained suffrage rights added to the Washington Constitution in 1910. In 1914, Mayor Gill would run again and be re-elected[10]. Newspapers and churches from this era would focus on crime in the area and make outrageous accusations, like a 1914 article claiming that the popular Tango dance "comes direct from the tenderloin"[11].

Madame Lou Graham (1861-1903)

Madame Louise "Lou" Graham operated a bordello in Seattle's tenderloin under the cover of a seamstress parlor. She is believed to have had a romantic partnership with a woman and to have hired gay men or transgender women in her business.

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Sources

1. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, February 25, 1891, Page 4, Image 4": "Worse Than Sodom and Babylon"
2. Library of Congress, "The Seattle Republican, July 25, 1902, Image 3": "Seattle Spirit - Seattle's Tenderloin"
3. Library of Congress, "The Seattle star, October 28, 1899, Image 1": "Aggressive Move on Dance Halls And Variety Theaters in the Tenderloin District of Seattle"
4. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, February 15, 1891, Page 8, Image 8": "After Bad Women"
5. Library of Congress, "The Seattle post-intelligencer, April 23, 1891, Page 4, Image 4": "The Whitechapel Eviction"
6. Library of Congress, "The Seattle star, April 28, 1904, Night Edition, Image 1": "Corporations Behind Infamous Scheme to Remove the Tenderloin District to North Seattle"
7. Library of Congress, "The Seattle star, August 31, 1908, Last Edition, Page 8, Image 8"
8. Library of Congress, "The Seattle star, October 08, 1910, Home Edition, Image 1": "Gill Deep in the Mire - Shadow of Tenderloin Falls Over Seattle's City Hall"
9. Library of Congress, "The Daily Missoulian, October 08, 1911, Morning, Page 3, Image 15": "Effective Practical Application of the Recall"
10. Library of Congress, "The Seattle star, March 15, 1915, Page 3, Image 3": "Hi Gill Has Been in Office One Year! Has He Been Good Mayor?"
11. Library of Congress, "Daily capital journal, April 13, 1914, Image 1": "Says Tango Originated in Tenderloin District"
12. Photo credit: Paul Dorpat and HistoryLink.org "Madame Lou Graham arrives in Seattle in February 1888."