Photographs of Yesler Terrace, 1940-1943

Yesler’s mill, the first mill in Seattle, was the city’s first center of industry and development. The original King County Courthouse was located on this part of First Hill. The southwest side of what is now First Hill also included an area of Jewish settlement in the late 19th century. The southernmost edge was part of what was known then as “Japantown,” later the International District. First Hill was also known as “Profanity Hill” due to the steepness of street grades. The surrounding area was developed through the first decade of the 20th century with dense, wood-frame multi-family townhouses, apartment hotels, and boarding houses. However, by the 1930s much of the area was considered blighted.

Due to a lack of affordable housing on First Hill many poor and working-class people lived in substandard conditions. Creation of a public housing authority in Seattle was initiated when Jesse Epstein, a young Seattle attorney and specialist in federal housing law, approached Mayor Arthur Langlie in 1937 for assistance in realizing local housing reforms. Epstein explained to Langlie how Seattle could obtain federal funds for slum clearance projects and new low-income housing. Epstein formed a committee to write legislation to do just that. A city ordinance was passed in 1937 creating a Local Advisory Housing Commission and Epstein was made the committee chairman. The Committee sponsored a Real Property Survey in 1937 that examined low-income housing in Seattle and found that 28.5% of residential structures were substandard. The legislation to establish a housing authority eligible for federal assistance was passed in 1939. In March 1939, the Seattle Housing Authority was established and Epstein was named director. They received $3,000,000 from the federal government. Yesler Terrace was the first project and the first public housing project in the State to house low-income families as well as workers in defense industries. Epstein wanted Yesler Terrace to be racially integrated. It became the first integrated public housing project in the country. When completed the project was lauded for its progressive social goals and modern design.

A diverse range of people, most with low incomes, inhabited the area designated for the Yesler Terrace development. In contrast to the prevailing poverty there was a thriving Japanese community comprising of a third of the families in the neighborhood. Many of these families operated businesses in the area. The 158 buildings on the site contained 471 dwelling units that were rented out by absentee landlords to more than 1,000 residents. With the exception of foreign-born nationals, who were excluded from the project, the original low-income tenants of the site were given preference in applying for housing at Yesler Terrace.