The Seattle Laundry Feud of 1887
A violent, years-long business rivalry between two rival laundry operators erupts in court, revealing the precarity of immigrant life and business in early Seattle.
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.
Trouble has been brewing for some time between the rival Chinese laundries of Lee Yick and the local Lee Tong. The long-standing feud between the two factions in Seattle, Washington Territory, came to a head on Monday. During a scuffle between the two groups on Commercial Street, a Lee Yick supporter reportedly struck Lee Tong with a heavy wooden cudgel, knocking him to the ground and breaking a bone in his left leg just below the knee. The district soon was in an uproar. The case is now before Judge Turner on the bench. The hearing regarding the assault is expected to be settled after the holidays.
“Trouble has been brewing for some time between the rival Chinese laundries... The district soon was in an uproar.”
This 1887 dispute over laundry territory reflects the intense competitive pressures faced by Seattle's immigrant community during a period of rapid urban growth and racial exclusion. Today's small business owners, particularly those in the service and gig economy, still navigate similarly volatile landscapes where turf and survival are constantly at odds.
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