The End of the Black Diamond Dive
King County commissioners shutter a notorious dance house after neighbors provide damaging testimony about the resort's conduct.
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.
The Black Diamond saloon and alleged dance house no longer holds a license from the county commissioners. The board yesterday gave a decision revoking the license granted to Duncalfe & Evans, and assigned to Anton, Green & Company, who were alleged to have conducted the disorderly resort. The case was taken under advisement last week after a trial at which a large number of Black Diamond residents swore to very damaging stories against the saloon.
“The Black Diamond saloon and alleged dance house has no license from the county commissioners now.”
This reflects the long, recurring tension in Seattle between 'the dive'—establishments that thrived on the edge of legality—and municipal efforts to enforce order or morality. The struggle to license or regulate nightlife spaces continues in Seattle today, even if the venues (and the terminology) have changed drastically.
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