Supply Laundry Building and Smokestack

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1265 Republican Street

The original portion of the Supply Laundry building was constructed in 1908, probably as a one-story building. By circa 1918 a second story had been added, with further additions made in 1925, 1951, and 1952. The front stair was constructed in 1960.

This building housed a working commercial laundry from the time of its construction until at least the 1980s, remaining relatively intact during that time. By 1947 it had become the second plant for the New Richmond Laundry, which was located nearby and was one of the many commercial laundries filling Cascade/South Lake Union with clouds of steam and the smell of starch.

The Supply Laundry, one of several anti-union laundries that comprised the Seattle Laundry Owners' Club, is associated with the so-called Seattle Laundry Girls Strike that occurred in the summer of 1917. The laundry workers' successful strike resulted in better enforcement of existing minimum-wage and eight-hour-day regulations, as well as a wage increase, full union recognition, and closed shop.

By Paula Becker, September 25, 2012

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Supply Laundry Building, 1265 Republican Street, Seattle, July 27, 2007
HistoryLink.org photo by Paula Becker