The Forgotten Municipal Boarding House
In 1887, a Seattle councilman proposed a city-funded boarding house to protect immigrants from predatory boarding house operators and ensure the city welcomed its new arrivals.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Councilman Basker of the Seattle City Council has put forward a proposal to establish a municipal boarding house to serve the influx of new immigrants. During an interview, Basker emphasized the necessity of the project, noting that many newcomers arriving in Seattle arrive with families and limited means, only to be exploited by unscrupulous operators at the wharf. 'There has been a good deal of talk about the necessity of such a building,' Basker stated. 'I think myself that it is a thing that should be provided by the city. It would be a valuable investment. According to the records we keep at the office, there are about thirty individuals per day coming here. Three people, of course, cannot afford to stop at hotels, especially where they come in families, and they have no place else to go.' Basker proposed utilizing an existing structure or constructing a dedicated facility uptown, away from the dangerous wharf area, to provide safe shelter for at least ten families, with the railroad potentially providing the site.
“Three people, of course, cannot afford to stop at hotels, especially where they come in families, and they have no place else to go.”
This 1887 proposal for a city-run shelter to protect newcomers from predatory housing costs and exploitation mirrors the intense contemporary debates over Seattle’s 'right to shelter' and the city's ongoing struggle to provide public housing solutions for those priced out of the private market.
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