HistoryLink Tours

506 Maynard Avenue S

The Eastern Hotel was built by contractor David Dow in 1911 and commissioned by Chinese immigrant Chun Ching Hock for the Wa Chong Company, one of Seattle’s first Chinese mercantile and labor contracting businesses. This hotel was another location that had a Japanese furo or bathhouse that was in the lower level of the building. The building served as home to Filipino American transient laborers, many of whom worked seasonally in the Alaska canneries or the agricultural fields of Eastern Washington while keeping these rooms for their return.

The hotel was restored in 1998 in a partnership with Interim Community Development Association and the Chin family that owned the building. The final project converted the original 100 single rooms into 47 units of affordable housing. A significant feature of the restored building is its lobby, which displays photographs and artwork commemorating the lives and work of the Filipino American community. A mural depicting struggles endured by immigrants, and their experiences as cannery workers and farmers, was done by artist Eliseo Art Silva. The mural is entitled “Can You Read the Secrets of History in My Face?” This title was taken from a poem written by Carlos Bulosan, a poet, author, labor activist, and a resident of the Eastern Hotel in the 1930s.

Walk south on Maynard Street to Lane Street and turn left. Walk east to 7th Avenue S.