Mercedes Yaeger has been running the Market Ghost Tours for the last 4 years and in the process of telling ghost stories, she has learned a lot about the history of 1st Avenue. What today is condominiums and restaurants, was once a thriving community of flesh for sale. "Flesh Avenue", as it was known, encompassed 1st Avenue starting at 1st and Pike and also stretched East along Pike St. In the mid 1970's the area was so full of prostitution local business owners organized a protest hanging signs that read "Take it off our streets" in their windows. In 1975, the Seattle City Council considered a law that would take it off the streets and legalize sex acts in private spaces. In early Seattle, women working in prostitution were taxed and that tax became a major source of revenue for the city. Mayors argued that prostitution was a needed commodity in Seattle, to service the thousands of men headed to the Klondike Goldrush. In fact, in one form or another it visibly existed in buildings and on the streets of downtown Seattle until the early 1980's.
This tour is an attempt to discuss the history of prostitution in Seattle, the history of the labor force that supported the trade, and the politics that allowed it to exist. It is a difficult subject to tackle and the tour is still in development.