A house at 114 21st Avenue in Seattle, built in 1902, served from 1959 to 1962 as a model home and office for the Seattle Urban Renewal Enterprise (SURE), a nonprofit citizen’s advisory committee created to stimulate community support and implement urban-renewal projects. With federal guidance and assistance, SURE focused on "blighted areas" with the goal to improve the conditions of residential buildings through construction improvements and redevelopment to create new housing, thereby spurring economic development. To achieve its objectives, SURE acquired 114 21st Avenue in 1959 and remodeled the space to serve as an information center and showroom of potential for homeowners. By the 1970s, the urban-renewal programs had shifted focus and ownership of 114 21st Avenue transitioned to New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, which was located on the same block. In the 1990s, the building served as the headquarters for Campaign 5000, which raised funds for grants to support Central District Black-owned businesses, among other dynamic community uses. The building was scheduled to be torn down in 2024 and replaced by the 92-unit New Hope Family Housing development, marking a new chapter for the block and Black-led property ownership and management in the Central District.
Yesler’s Way
The Duwamish (dxʷdəwʔabš) people were the first residents of Seattle’s Central District, the land upon which 114 21st Avenue sits today, with 17 villages at minimum located throughout the Seattle area. The area included dense forests and abundant wildlife. Following the settlement of the Denny Party at Alki Point in West Seattle in 1851, additional white people traveled to the area seeking economic opportunities and asserting territory. This group would include Henry Yesler (1810-1892), who arrived in Seattle in October 1852. Seeing the vast potential for enrichment through lumber production, Yesler scouted the area and discovered an ideal location in an area that the South Salish tribes referred to as Dzidzilalich ("little crossing-over place"), along the Seattle waterfront. The primary advantage this area offered was sufficient water depth to effectively move the felled logs. The desired location had two pre-existing property claims, by Carson Boren (1824-1912) and David Swinson "Doc" Maynard (1808-1873). Realizing how a sawmill could further their goals of creating jobs, attracting a larger settler population, and increasing their own fortunes, Boren and Maynard offered Yesler the waterfront property.
Yesler established a steam-powered sawmill there in 1853, built a wharf with sawdust and debris, and acquired additional land totaling 320 acres up toward First Hill. Yesler’s mill was the first major employer in the area, hiring settlers and indigenous people, who later would be restricted to segregated areas. The chopped timber would ride along greased logs to be processed at the mill on a strip initially and informally called Skid Road. Skid Road later became known as Mill Street and then Yesler Way.
Yesler and his wife Sarah Burgert Yesler (1822-1887), who later joined her husband traveling west from Ohio in 1858, expanded their property holdings with the 1st Addition plat that includes present-day 114 21st Avenue, bordered by Yesler Way to the south and Fir Street (previously designated as Squire Avenue) to the north. The Sanborn 1893 map depicts no building activity at the site.
A house was constructed at 114 21st Avenue in 1902 as a gable-front, two-story, six-room Victorian folk building with concrete foundation. Exterior wood trim adorned the A-frame silhouette and the structure was clad in wood shingles. An identical house with the same features was built next door at 116 21st Avenue. A 1904 Sanborn map indicates that the two buildings shared a rear platform that appeared to have been used as a garage by the 1920s. The house became a rental, with a 1906 newspaper advertisement noting it to be a "modern house" located a half-block "close in" from the cable car on Yesler Way for $20 per month ("For Rent ..."). This consistent description appeared throughout newspapers from 1906-1912, with additional features mentioned later, such as partial furnishings, bath, electric lights, and gas stoves.
One of the initial residents was Mrs. Emma Millmore Rhodes (1868-1944). Rhodes co-owned E. M. Rhodes & Co. with her partner Fred B. Kendall (ca. 1860-1949) and sold "Indian Baskets and Curios," operating at 109 Columbia Street according to the 1903 Seattle City Directory, the present-day site of the Norton Building in downtown Seattle. She later became president of the Women’s Commercial Club of Seattle, representing more than 100 Seattle woman-owned businesses.
The Central District Emerges
The present-day Central District, synonymously referred to as the Central Area or succinctly the CD, is where 114 21st Avenue is located. The neighborhood comprises "four square miles, bound to the north by East Madison Street, to the West by 12th Avenue, to the south by South Jackson Street, and to the east by Martin Luther King Jr." ("Central District").
The Central District evolved out of two smaller Black neighborhoods that merged amidst racial segregation by white residents. The redlining of the Central District followed the playbook of nineteenth-century segregation that began with white settlers partitioning the Duwamish people away to Seattle's southern edge. The East Madison neighborhood began in a remote northeast quadrant, owned and developed by Black businessman, hotel and restaurant operator William Grose (1835-1898), who purchased 12 acres from Yesler in 1882. The introduction of the extended Madison Street cable car line in 1889 provided vital transportation services to downtown, and ushered in a Black professional residential community that purchased lots from the Grose family. The second neighborhood, older and larger, was Yesler-Jackson, which comprised the southwest quadrant where Black working-class transient residents – many working for the railroads or in service positions such as barbers, waiters, and cooks – stayed in lodging houses or short-term rentals.
During the 1920s, as more people migrated to Seattle and ethnic diversity grew, redlining and racially restrictive covenants became prevalent. "From Ballard to Beacon Hill and Magnuson to Magnolia, they forbade nonwhites from residing outside of the Central Area and Chinatown" ("Heartbreak City"). Early housing segregation incidents involved J. Edward Hawkins, Seattle’s first Black attorney, who faced opposition from white homeowners when he tried to move to the Capitol Hill neighborhood in 1903; as well as prominent Black newspaper publishing couple Horace Cayton (1859-1940) and Susie Revels Cayton (1870-1943), who were sued in 1909 by Dan Jones, a white realtor, who alleged the Cayton family’s presence at their Capitol Hill home depreciated neighborhood values. Although the Caytons won the costly case, they were forced to move to the Central District following declining newspaper sales and cancelled subscriptions from white customers after they published a front-page editorial about a Mississippi lynching.
Prior to a majority African American presence by the 1960s, the Central District was home to Italian, Jewish, Japanese, and Chinese communities. In 1923, both the 114 and 116 21st Avenue properties were purchased as rental properties by Aphriam Friedman, a Russian-born Jew who lived with his wife Fannie a little over a half-mile away at 729 23rd Avenue. The Tacoma Times reported in 1939 that Friedman "fell or leaped to his death" from the fourth floor of Seattle’s Providence Hospital during a stay for pneumonia at 80 years of age ("Final Bulletins").
In 1950, the home at 114 21st Avenue was occupied by the Angel family – Albert Bohor Angel, his spouse Susan "Susie" Azos, both born in Turkey, and their seven children, aged 6 to 17. In 1954, there were reports that a faulty flue caused a fire, although there was "no loss" ("Where’s The Fire?"). The house later became unoccupied, with a transformational change coming by the end of the decade.
Seattle Urban Renewal Enterprise
A core precedent for the beginning of the Seattle Urban Renewal Enterprise (SURE) goes back to the 1930s with involvement from the Seattle Planning Commission, Seattle Housing Authority (SHA), and federal government. The Seattle Planning Commission authored extensive studies compiling data related to "population, land use, zoning, traffic flow, and street classifications" ("Urban Renewal in Seattle"). The data was utilized in part to analyze "blighted areas" where the Seattle Housing Authority engaged in "slum clearance" of residences deemed unsightly, unhealthy, or unsanitary to create new housing with a focus on military families, veterans, and defense workers. Near the end of the Great Depression, the federal government passed the Housing Act of 1937 (also known as the Wagner-Steagall Act), which authorized direct federal financial assistance to local governments to demolish older buildings and construct new ones for public housing. A requirement to receive the funds was to establish a "local public housing agency," which needed state approval ("Seattle Housing Authority"). Seattle attorney Jesse Epstein (1910-1989) led authorization efforts to create the Seattle Housing Authority. Successful in 1939, Epstein became the first chairman and, after SHA received a $3 million federal loan, was appointed executive director.
The inaugural SHA project was Yesler Terrace, a site atop Yesler Hill consisting of 24 blocks and nearly 44 acres with Victorian and craftsman houses in an unmaintained state. All the structures were demolished, replaced by 690 units. At a time when similar projects in other cities were segregated, Yesler Terrace was integrated, with Esptein balancing this goal with the backlash by "limiting black occupancy to 20 percent and quickly moving neighboring black and white tenants who clashed to other housing units ..." ("Forging"). Although the goal was to move "qualified" residents (unmarried men and women were excluded, among other restrictions) back to where they had lived, only 25 families returned to Yesler Terrace out of 1,021 people displaced ("Seattle Housing Authority").
State and federal collaboration intensified with passage of the state's Urban Renewal Law in March 1957. Among the authorized activities was the power of state municipalities, through the creation of urban-renewal agencies, to designate "blighted areas," acquire properties through eminent domain, and "levy taxes and make assessments" ("Urban Renewal In Seattle'). The law was supported by a consortium of community groups, including the Jackson Street Community Council, that were eager to address issues of blight in their communities and receive federal funding and additional resources. The Seattle City Council passed Ordinances 86463 and 86767 to meet the federal mandates and establish an advisory board by the end of 1957. The board quickly expanded its function and asserted independence to take action, incorporating as SURE in November 1958. SURE developed a budget to hire staff, including architect Talbot Wegg (1904-1973) as a part-time Urban Renewal Coordinator, which later expanded to full-time. Wegg added additional staff. Among SURE’s objectives: implement the city’s urban-renewal program, educate and assist residents, generate publicity, and coordinate and comply with federal officials.
To accomplish its aims, SURE generated a "workable program" document and a Minimum Housing Code as required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Among the renewal strategies outlined in the document are: (1) conservation, which is preventative in nature and concerned with code compliance; (2) rehabilitation, which included conservation and "spot clearance" combining housing with upgrading public facilities; and (3) redevelopment, which involved eminent domain, condemnation, demolition, and creating new buildings ("Urban Renewal in Seattle"). Wegg and SURE analyzed the "blighted areas" to conclude that the city needed 55 percent conservation, 30 percent rehabilitation, and 15 percent redevelopment.
SURE recommended that the Cherry Hill neighborhood become the first urban-renewal project, which the Seattle City Council approved in March 1959. Among the reasons cited was the "active organization and interest of its residents" ("Cherry Hill Urban Renewal Conservation Project"). Cherry Hill is a neighborhood within the Central District bordered on the south by Yesler Way and the north by Cherry Street, from 18th Avenue east to 23rd Avenue, totaling 495 buildings and almost 63 acres. Critically, the Cherry Hill project was classified as a "non-assisted conservation area," so although it was supported by the federal government, there was no federal funding provided. Therefore, funding came locally from the city and privately, with encouragement for homeowners to take out their own low-interest loans.
Demonstration House
To promote the project within the community, SURE established a "demonstration house" at 114 21st Avenue. Press releases and newspaper articles cited a businessman who purchased 114 21st Avenue and leased it to SURE for $1 over three years to utilize as an office and showroom space. SURE’s internal records identify Laird Norton Company President and civic leader Langdon Savage Simons Jr. (1923-2016) as the purchaser of both 114 and 116 21st Avenue. The 116 21st Avenue house was turned into a rental property. Additional contributors included Kaiser Permanente Cement Company, which cut a check for "operation of SURE’s demonstration house at 114 21st Ave. and to help finance urban renewal studies" ("SURE Given Financial Aid").
On January 21, 1961, the Urban Renewal Demonstration House was officially dedicated with Seattle Mayor Gordon Clinton (1920-2011) and city officials in attendance. Reporters described the previous appearance of the building as "ramshackle," "dilapidated," and a "former ruin" ("First Urban Renewal ..."). Brochures and publicity materials depict before-and-after photos and detail the improvement work, which included new and repaired electrical wiring, plumbing, painting, linoleum floor tiling, lighting, and windows. In addition, there was a project cost breakdown and financing information for homeowners to undertake similar remodeling work. To encourage participation and raise funds, SURE outlined membership information with offerings at the following levels: Interested ($2), Contributing ($5), Sustaining ($10), Corporate ($100 and over), and Delegate Organizations ($25).
Federal housing officials from San Francisco and delegations from Vancouver, British Columbia, visited the demonstration house. SURE staff members provided outreach with appearances at the Arctic Club, Tyee Yacht Club, and College Club. On October 26, 1960, SURE co-sponsored a community meeting with the Cherry Hill Block Group and Jackson Street Community Council at New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, located on the same block as the demonstration house, to discuss the Cherry Hill project and SURE’s plans for the adjacent Yesler-Atlantic area ("Urban Renewal To Be Discussed").
With direct federal funds available totaling $3 million, the Yesler-Atlantic Neighborhood Improvement Project (YANIP) was wider in scope and instituted SURE’s redevelopment strategy of eminent domain. SURE’s redevelopment projects included Northlake, an industrial area in South Seattle, and Pike Place (proposed but not pursued due to activist opposition).
Lacking funding and staff while SURE’s attention went to other projects, the demonstration house closed in 1962. In its 1962 final report, SURE acknowledged its efforts in Cherry Hill to be "somewhat successful," resulting in 142 units newly constructed, repaired, or remodeled, with 1,163 interviews with homeowners conducted and 230 meetings held ("Cherry Hill Urban Renewal Conservation Project Final Report"). In comparison with urban renewal’s proponents from Seattle’s political, business, and civic groups, citizens and community groups criticized the unfolding gentrification, lack of overall outreach, and how people’s homes were depicted.
In 1966, B. Gloria Henderson, president of the Council for the Advancement of Human Welfare and a Yesler-Atlantic Citizens' Conference board member, reflected on her urban-renewal survey work with Altantic-Yesler residents, saying, "The homeowners didn’t like their places considered 'junk' and someone saying they should be torn down and replaced" ("A Central-Area Negro Leader Gives Her Views"). She noted the importance of self-determination within the Black community, including childcare, job training, enhancing infrastructure, and preservation of community landmarks. Henderson’s sentiments aligned with progress made during Seattle’s Civil Rights era, which included the founding of the Central Area Motivation Program in 1964 with employment and training programs; Seattle City Council’s first Black member, Sam Smith (1922-1995), who led efforts to unanimously pass the Open Housing Ordinance in 1968, prohibiting housing discrimination; the founding of the local Black Panther Party by Aaron and Elmer Dixon that same year with the enactment of the Ten Point Program; and the establishment of the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in 1970.
Seattle’s urban-renewal projects displaced an estimated 500 families and businesses due to eminent domain procedures and many additional displacement instances where homeowners who were cited for compliance violations were unable to secure loans because they were defined as "high risk" borrowers and ultimately could not afford the repairs to remain in their homes ("Urban Renewal in Seattle"). In 1971, New Hope Missionary Baptist Church acquired 114 21st Avenue with a long-term plan that took a distinctly different approach.
Seattle’s New Hope
The origins of Seattle’s New Hope Missionary Baptist Church trace to 1949 and a former grocery store at Broadway and Yesler Way. Founded by Dr. C. E. Williams and Deacon Ivory Luke (1915-1989) with an initial membership of eight congregants, the church was named New Hope in response to the "many disappointments that the people had suffered in the city of Seattle concerning churches" ("History"). The congregation grew, and a successful pledge drive led to the 1950 purchase of a building at 120 21st Avenue with capacity for a 180-person congregation. In 1958, construction began on a new church building, designed by Benjamin McAdoo (1920-1981), the first African American architect licensed in Washington and founder of the first African American architecture firm in Seattle. The church was completed in 1959, the same year the SURE office opened at 114 21st Avenue, and congregation membership rose to 600.
The growth of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and realization of its vision was critically blunted in 1969. In addition to the properties on 21st Avenue between Yesler Way and Fir Street, the church owned two properties on the next block of 21st Avenue, which it intended to be used for an educational center and congregation parking. Threatening condemnation with the tools of urban renewal’s eminent domain, the City of Seattle forced the church to sell the property for $34,000 and "the remaining parcels on the block, including several single-family homes owned by Black families" ("Right Past Wrongs"). In its place, the Spruce Street Mini Park was created.
On May 10, 1994, Campaign 5000 kicked off at 114 21st Avenue, which served as campaign headquarters. The initiative was led by Rev. Dr. Robert L. Jeffrey Sr. of New Hope Baptist Church, with a steering committee that included Kay Bullitt of the Bullitt Foundation and Shurgard Corporation CEO Chuck Barbo, along with state and city agency representatives. Campaign 5000 was a grassroots community lending model to create a business incubator for the Central District’s African American businesses. Fundraising efforts would begin with $200 individual and $1,000 business pledges communally invested into an endowment with an overall goal of $1.5 million supported by 5,000 residents and 500 companies. Once achieved, the fund could perpetually award grants with the endowment’s interest.
Among Campaign 5000 supporters was Sadikifu Akina-James. When asked why she pledged an individual contribution, she replied "Nobody had to sell me on it ... I understand it's very important for African Americans to create their own businesses and for us to support our own economic development" ("Fund Drive For Black Businesses"). Once again, 114 21st Avenue was a site for promoting economic development. Rather than a focus on demolition of existing buildings and renovation of other buildings funded with federal and private investment, which led to residential displacement, this approach focused on creating and growing area businesses and awarding grants consistently with a continual financing model.
Adversity reemerged soon thereafter, as a devastating fire destroyed the McAdoo-designed church building on May 17, 1994. Despite an official investigation concluding the fire was accidental due to faulty wiring, church congregants and community members believed it was a reactionary arson due to the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Sr.’s support for LGBTQ rights and the church’s robust social-service programs serving diverse recipients including the houseless ("Burned in Hate – Rebuilt in Love"). Services were temporarily relocated to the East Madison YMCA at 1700 23rd Avenue from June through November. The church raised funds and rebuilt a new church in the same Cherry Hill location, holding its first service on January 31, 1999. Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Sr. and New Hope members also started the Black Dollar Days Task Force, a nonprofit that also supports Black-owned businesses and coordinates with local farms to supply organic foods to people with limited to no access due to financial constraints.
Post-Urban Renewal Progressions
In 2021, Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Sr. brought renewed attention to what happened to the church’s land 40 years prior along with fellow faith leaders, compelling the Seattle City Council to pass Resolution 32015 in August 2021. The resolution "condemns the displacement caused by the Yesler-Atlantic Neighborhood Improvement project, apologizes for the harm done, and urges City Departments to find opportunities to make reparations for that displacement. This resolution also urges the Office of Housing to select for funding the New Hope Family Housing project, which is a proposed affordable housing project focused on combatting [sic] the displacement of Black community members from the Central District" ("Resolution 32015").
In 2024, in collaboration with the City of Seattle, the church moved forward with its New Hope Family Housing project, which will create 92 new units and is designed to "prioritize housing for Central District residents who have been displaced from the neighborhood or current residents at risk of displacement" ("Clergy Call For Justice"). The redevelopment includes both 114 and 116 21st Avenue, which were demolished. This project joins with other recent Central District anti-displacement initiatives that achieve Black-led property ownership and management, such as the Frank and Goldyne Green Cultural Land Conservancy’s purchase of the Wa Na Wari Black arts and culture building in September 2024, preserving five generations of family ownership; and the opening of Africatown Plaza in October 2024, developed by the Africatown Community Land Trust, consisting of 126 affordable apartments.
