The Health Board Targets Opera Alley's Squalor
City officials inspect disease-breeding housing conditions occupied by foreign laborers.
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.
Mayor Linck, Chief of Police Duley, Health Commissioner Dr. Sargentich, and President Lynn of the council, constituting the city board of health, made a tour of inspection along Opera alley and the public market yesterday, and they were not very enthusiastic over conditions. The box stalls at the market along the curb line President Lynn thought objectionable and they will probably be ordered down. The worst conditions, however, were found along Opera alley. Almost the entire row of buildings from Eleventh to Thirteenth reeks with filth and disease-breeding conditions. They are occupied by Greeks, Hindus, and other foreign laborers who in many cases cannot speak English and have no conception of sanitation or modern civilization. The buildings are owned by Eastern men and rented by local agents. One man who was ordered to get out declared he paid $14 for his squalid apartments. Dr. Sargentich declared the whole row should be condemned for sanitary reasons and the board seemed of the same opinion. Steps will probably be taken to clean out the whole alley and raze most of the old buildings to the ground.
“They are occupied by Greeks, Hindus and other foreign laborers who in many cases cannot speak English and have no conception of sanitation or modern civilization.”
This 1909 health inspection highlights a recurring theme in Tacoma’s history: the targeting of immigrant populations living in substandard, absentee-owned housing under the guise of public sanitation. The 'Opera Alley' site remains a central part of downtown Tacoma, serving as a reminder of how civic power has historically used health ordinances to displace vulnerable communities.
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