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We're often asked what our earliest records are in the Archives.
Not a lot of early records exist, presumably
because of the Great Fire in 1889.
One of the earliest however, are delinquent tax lists,
which have always fascinated me.
Consisting of several volumes, the list date from 1873 to 1878.
The names on the lists and their property location tempt me with stories waiting to be told.
The lists of delinquent city taxes were turned over to King County Treasurer
for collection, and once collected, proceeds were returned to the City.
In an 1876 volume, the first page is a letter from City Clerk William A. Inman
requesting the County Clerk, William H. Shoudy, to proceed with collecting taxes for 1876.
The handwriting and ledger book is fun in and of itself, but the page also
has a red seal for the City that says “City of Seattle, Washington Territory.”
A reminder that Washington did not become a state until 1889,
well after Seattle's establishment as a city in 1869.
The seal includes a scene with mountains, trees and water, which still seems apt today.
The ledger lists names, plat or location, worth of property,
and how much owed for the many different types of taxes such as road poll tax,
road property tax, city tax, gas light tax and fire tax, as well as the total.
If the tax was paid, that is noted in the last column.
The list usually gives you an
idea of where someone’s property was.
Many are located in Boren, Denny, or Eastern Addition, but other plats are listed also.
Pencil notations add some information.
Mrs. Sarah D. Libby is listed as having property at blocks one and two on block
nine of Bell and Denny, which would have been in
what is now Belltown, valued at $200, but no personal property is listed.
So possibly there was no building, just property.
A few lines down James G. T. Libby is listed as “dead” and just above him
George J. Laurbert is listed as “gone.” Sarah Libby's tax of $1.76 was listed as “paid,”
but James Libby's tax of $4.62 (for which no location was given)
there is the notation “dead.”
Mrs. Sarah D. Libby's name shows up on an 1890 petition requesting
that the fire limits be extended
so that frame buildings, presumably wood buildings, two-stories high, be permitted.
This tells us that Sarah Libby did not remarry
and her property was possibly involved in the Great Fire.
Further research would be required to find out more.
Also in the list of delinquent taxes, Ty Lee, Hop Lee, Wan Lee, and U Lee
are listed, but no address is given, only the note “wash houses.”
No value was given for their real estate, only the personal property.
All their taxes are listed as paid.
Marie Wong in her book “Building Tradition: Pan-Asian Seattle
and Life in the Residential Hotels,” states that 12 Chinese businesses
were clustered around Washington Street between 2nd and 3rd.
In 1884, an E. A. Doud wrote to the Mayor and City Council for financial support
because his building on Washington Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets
was destroyed by fire.
He was writing City Council for help because his building was uninsurable
quote “on account of its proximity to Chinese quarters.”
I was unable to find any more information on any of the Lees listed,
but this is the earliest reference to redlining I've seen.
One of the largest property owners, Henry Yesler is listed in the 1877 list.
His property is valued at $30,000, and taxes owed totaled $931.19.
If one had the time, you could recreate occupants on a map,
or at least the names that had locations and compare it to the census.
You could compare names to see where they appear in City records and elsewhere.
There are so many stories to chase down in these volumes, listing
those who owe taxes, if only one had the time.
To find these items and more, please visit seattle.gov./cityarchives.
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