The Love Israel Family, a Seattle communal group, was founded in 1968 by Paul Erdman, who changed his name to Love Israel. The Family started out in a bungalow on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill, and all members took the surname Israel, with new first names representing virtues or biblical figures. Their non-traditional dress, living arrangements, and spiritual practices were often controversial.

Over the next several decades, the Family grew to over 350 members, expanded into multiple houses in Queen Anne, and started several businesses. The Family also owned farmland in other locations. In the 1980s, internal differences caused the group to split. Love Israel and some 100 Family members moved to their ranch property near Arlington, WA, in Snohomish County, where they farmed, ran several Arlington restaurants, and held a popular annual garlic festival. After the venture became overextended, the Family sold the property in 2003 and disbanded. Love Israel moved back to Seattle, where he died in 2016.

Here, members of the Love Israel Family sit in their Queen Anne Hill living room, reading scripture. Members attended daily pre-dawn meetings that included coffee and marijuana (viewed as sacraments), meditation, and spiritual messages from their leader.

Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): August 16, 1971

Caption information source: HistoryLink.org essays 9313 and 9322 by Charles P. LeWarne.