How did the Central District become Seattle’s historically black neighborhood?
The Central District — or, depending on whom you’re talking to, the Central Area — has seen so much change over the years. It’s hard to get a grasp on its origins, but reader Beth Anderson wanted to try.
“What was it before it was the CD — who were (the) early inhabitants? Who settled there? Why was that the spot African Americans got redlined into?”
You voted for us to answer Beth’s question, so let’s dive in. But first, let’s quickly rewind to give a basic answer to the first part of her query.
Before there was a Central District, or even a Seattle, all the land making up the Seattle area belonged to the Duwamish people. After white settlers arrived in the 1850s, the land was signed over to them (though the settlers never fulfilled the promises they made to the tribe).
Not long after that, the first black Seattleites arrived.
Who were those early black residents?
Manuel Lopes, who arrived around 1852, and William Grose, who arrived with his wife, Sarah, and two kids around 1860. Both men set up their own restaurants and barbershops.
William bought about 12 acres — about five blocks — of land from Henry Yesler, one of Seattle’s first settlers, and made a home near Madison Valley. He would later let other black folks build homes on his property as racist housing practices took hold and kept minority settlers from living in many other areas. More on that in a minute.
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