The Donut King of First & Pike
Seattle’s original “bad neighborhood” was Pioneer Square. Bursting with saloons, brothels, and gambling parlors back in the early 1900s, it was nicknamed the Tenderloin based on the fact that beat cops assigned there could afford the best cuts of meat from all the pay-off money they collected.
This notoriety lasted several decades until sometime in the late 1960s when the neighborhood’s degeneracy started metastasizing northward along First Avenue, which soon become known as “flesh avenue” due to its bawdy array of peep shows, adult bookstores, pawn shops, seedy taverns, tattoo parlors, and strip clubs.
Along this corridor of carnality sat an innocuous doughnut shop. Located at First Avenue and Pike Street, The Donut House first opened in 1958 and initially operated as a wholesome, family-owned snack bar offering 52 varieties of donuts. As the surrounding area began its later descent into urban squalor, however, the original owners decided to sell the business, and it fell under new ownership.
By the late 1970s, The Donut House had established itself as a central gathering place for the local populace, particularly wayward youth. Its bright, exterior sign served as a beacon for street kids who sought out its warm interior and cheap coffee. It soon became a top hang-out spot for local teen runaways and those who preyed on them. As a result, the once-pleasant doughnut shop was steadily transformed into a direct reflection of its seedy environment, becoming a regular nuisance stop for the police.
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https://www.postalley.org/2025/05/04/the-donut-kingpin-of-first-pike/