The Smell of Death: Seattle’s First Fight Over Industrial Zoning
In May 1890, a tannery near Seneca and Front streets was driving neighbors to the brink of eviction with its noxious fumes. One resident took to the press to demand the city council act before property values collapsed.
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.
To the Editor:
I hope the petition recently filed with the Council against the tannery near Seneca and Front streets will not pass unheeded. The tannery is a nuisance of the worst kind. The fumes coming from it inflict upon the whole neighborhood, and indeed, the matter has become so serious that those who occupy dwellings nearby threaten to leave them and seek a sweeter air.
Unless the owner of property within the contaminated district protracts which is in fact rendered wholly unremunerative, I wish to add my personal protest to that which has been formally filed with the Council.
There is no business or other necessity for the location of a tannery in the heart of the city. The processes of it might be just as well performed a little apart from the city; such establishments are excluded from other cities, as they should be since they affect both the public comfort and the public health, not to mention the damage to surrounding property.
This 1890 letter is an early example of 'NIMBY' (Not In My Backyard) politics clashing with industrial necessity. While modern Seattle has strict zoning laws that separate heavy industry from residential areas, this letter highlights how quickly the city's rapid growth in the 1890s blurred those lines, forcing residents to fight for basic environmental quality and property value protection.
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