King Street Station

Jazz originated in the Black community of New Orleans around the turn of the 20th century and was brought to Seattle by Black musicians. A trickle of Black migration to Washington State began in the late 1800s and by 1910, Seattle boasted 2,296 Black residents. Many came by railroad, so our tour of Seattle’s historic jazz district logically begins at the train station, which opened in 1906 as a joint terminus for the Northern Pacific Railway and Great Northern Railway. Its great hall and clock tower were probably the first visual impressions of Seattle for Frank Waldron (1890-1955), who came up from San Francisco in 1907 and over the next four decades taught the intricacies of jazz to successive generations of Seattle musicians. Porters and waiters working on the trains sometimes spent the night in town, looking for a bite to eat, a drink, entertainment or simply a place to congregate. These men were some of the earliest customers for the night spots and social clubs that developed in the nearby Chinatown-International District and, farther up the hill, the Central District commercial hub around 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street. For a while, a club on that corner (the Black and Tan) was even known as the “Colored Porters, Waiters and Cooks Club.” Another jazz venue on Seventh Avenue South near South Jackson Street, the Golden West, advertised “Special Rates to Railroad and Theatrical People.”