In the early 1980s, the state of Washington planned to widen the western end of Interstate 90 (I-90) and extend it to meet Interstate 5 (I-5) in Seattle’s Central Area. This expansion required the demolition of the Atlantic Street neighborhood near the I-90 overpass at Rainier Avenue. State agents began buying property in Atlantic Street and coercing residents into moving out of the neighborhood. In some cases, residents were relocated to substandard housing. In 1982, residents began organizing to resist being forced to leave. With help from local activist groups, they successfully pressured the state into reviewing relocations at Atlantic Street. Displaced residents were moved to better housing, and further relocations were delayed. Nevertheless, the I-90 expansion project continued over the course of the 1980s and destroyed the Atlantic Street neighborhood. The I-90 expansion was completed and opened to traffic in 1993.

This image shows a building in the area to be demolished. The building had contained apartments and commercial space, but by the time the picture was taken the building was gutted and used by firefighters for training.

Caption information source: “I-90 Refugees Finally Unite,” by Eric Nalder, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 15, 1982, page 1.
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.