Find of the Month

Each month we highlight interesting, important, and odd items from our collection, along with the stories they tell.

Most recent Find of the Month

July 2025 - Vice in Seattle

A 1935 report outlines the state of “gambling, vice, and liquor conditions” in Seattle, describing the landscape of prostitution, speakeasies, gambling houses, and other illegal establishments in the city. The report argued that these vice conditions bred crime, lowered property values, and diverted large amounts of money from legitimate businesses.

Investigators believed the “wide open” operation of these establishments was only possible because of police graft, which they saw as more dangerous than the vice itself. The report described the corruption as a condition that “is undermining the political structure of the city, and is causing increased disrespect for law and law enforcement officers,” as well as lowered morale on the police force.

An appendix listed specific addresses where witnesses alleged illegal activities were taking place. The Triangle Whist Club at 1616 Westlake was said to allow cards after hours, and lotteries were said to be run from several addresses in Chinatown. Gambling could be found everywhere from the Sky-Hi at 511 ½ 7th Ave. S. to Green’s Cigar Store at 1333 Third Ave. to room 50 at the Berkshire Hotel. The Black and Tan at 12th and Jackson was alleged to be a speakeasy with gambling and unlicensed dancing. Prostitution was attached to addresses throughout downtown, Belltown, and First Hill, as well as a number of addresses and areas south of Yesler.

Recommendations in the report were wide ranging, from regulating the use of barred doors in businesses to altering how massage parlors were licensed. Many suggestions related to the operation of the Police Department, including changing the way police chiefs were appointed to a method less affected by politics, professionalizing the vice squad, and providing training for new officers who currently were not really receiving any. (The report noted that the police manual had not been updated since 1922.)

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