White Center Chamber Of Commerce - Our History / History

The first settlers on the White Center Plateau arrived about 1870. Early attempts to farm the area were hampered by drainage problems, but logging proved to be a source of cash income. The Carr and Hood logging operation began in 1887 and Gottlieb Green’s mill started business in 1888. Other small logging operations and mills soon followed. As the timber was a felled, early settler picked up five, ten and twenty acre parcels to use as farmsteads. Following the turn of the century, the farmsteads were gradually subdivided into residential lots and developments.

The first major inducement to the development of White Center came with the inauguration of Streetcar service from Seattle (1912). The trolleys ran along 16th Avenue S.W. to S.W. 107th Street where the track jogged east to 12th Avenue S.W. to go past the Mountain View School. The line then returned to 16th Avenue S.W. and went south to S.W. 120th, thus establishing the approximate southern boundary of White Center. The streetcar was followed by a number of small businesses to serve the increasing number of residents. The business core that developed around the junction of Roxbury and 16th Avenue S.W. remains to this day.

The area received its name in the summer of 1918 when its two most prominent merchants, Mr. Hiram Green and Mr. George White, tossed a coin to decide who should have the privilege of naming the burgeoning neighborhood. Undaunted by his loss of the toss, Hiram Green went on to become the first president of the White Center Improvement Club established in the early 1920’s. In 1957, this organization became the White Center Chamber of Commerce.

During World War 1, White Center’s proximity to the shipyards and to the industrial plants in the Duwamish Basin prompted a large number of people to move to the area. The Depression slowed growth, the World War 2 brought in a host of defense workers employed at the shipyards and at Boeing. Under the Federal Housing Act of 1937, 550 public housing units were built in 1944 for those workers and their families. When the war ended, there was still a need for low cost housing and Park Lake Homes Site 1 was retained as a federal housing program. Park Lake Homes site 2, added 165 units to the program in 1965. The units in Site 1 were rebuilt between 1976 and 1981.

In the early 1980’s there was a dramatic demographic shift in the occupants of Park Lake Homes. As a direct result of the refugee resettlement after the Vietnam War, the population became approximately 60% Asian. The original group to refugees soon moved on to establish homes and businesses in and around White Center. Other Asian Americans have continued to take their place ever since. The influx of Asian Americans led the Highline School District to Establish English as a second language programs in White Center Schools. These programs and the area’s affordable housing continue to attract immigrants from many countries to the White Center area. The infusion of public housing had a pronounced influence on White Center. On one hand, the community fell prey to social problems often present when a considerable portion of the residents is living at or below the poverty level. The area’s most famous writer- poet, Richard Hugo, called White Center a “triggering town,” a place that fires on its people a desire to propel themselves elsewhere. On the other hand, the community has pulled together to address problems with an impressive record of volunteerism, activism, and concern for others. The White Center Park, stadium, field house, and its first library were all built with funds raised by volunteers.

Members of the Mountain View School P.T.A. started the White Center Library in 1943. It began with a collection of donated books, which Nel Freeze loaned from her nearby home. The White Center Library Guild started at the same time and their first activity was to lobby for a community library. Their efforts were rewarded in 1946 when the White Center branch of King County Library System opened in a space under the field-house steps. The present White Center Library opened its doors in August 1976. The White Center Library Guild still continues to provide excellent community support and a new library will be included in the Greenbridge project.

In 2003-2004, with a $35 million dollar federal grant and an additional $200 million dollars of public and private funds, King County Housing Authority, is replacing Park Lake Homes Site 1 with a mixed-income community of 900 to 1100 homes. It is a mix of housing types, including cottages, townhouses, single-family houses and apartment buildings. The housing types are interspersed throughout the site. The new site is named Greenbridge and will be ready for occupancy in 2007.