During the Great Depression of the 1930s, many unemployed and homeless people throughout the United States built shantytowns on vacant lots. The settlements were called Hoovervilles, after President Herbert Hoover whom many blamed for the depression. In Seattle, shantytowns grew in the waterfront areas south of downtown Seattle and north near Smith Cove, shown here. When the United States entered World War II, Hooverville residents had to move to make way for war construction.

Handwritten on image: Shanty Town - 15th W.
Handwritten on sleeve: SEATTLE, Interbay, Shacktown.
Document filed with image points out following landmarks: St. Margaret Catholic Church & School. Dr. HA Smith House & Clinic. Land fill garbage dump - always smoking. Interbay Grad School - closed ca. 1939 - last principal: Henry V. Mattern.
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): March 11, 1938.