The maps below show neighborhoods where racial restrictive covenants were imposed in the decades when they were legal. Most restrictions in Pierce County date from 1922 to 1957 and covered a large percentage of subdivisions developed in that period. We have documented more than 4,500 restricted properties in 87 subdivisions. Do not assume that areas without circles were unrestricted. Neighborhoods without covenants often practiced racial exclusion by other means. In 1940, Pierce's population of 182,081 included only 935 Black people and 2,839 other non-whites (mostly members of the Puyallup and Nisqually tribes). As the population soared to 411,027 by 1970, the number of non-white residents grew substantially in large part because of military installations. The 1970 census counted 18,501 Black residents, a third of them military personel at Fort Lewis. Asian and Latino people numbered 5,373, a quarter of them stationed at the military base. The census counted 3,343 Puyallup people and other Indigenous Americans in 1970 but the tribe had lost control of reservation lands. Overall, the county population remained 93% white.
Here we highlight restricted subdivisions. For a more complete view of individual properties go to our Pierce parcels map
These are preliminary findings and subject to revision. We are still adding and confirming data. We are grateful to the Pierce County Auditor office for making it possible for us to search digital property records using a computer program written by Nicholas Boren with help from Michael Corey at Mapping Prejudice. Suspected restrictions were confirmed by Sophia Dowling and Jazzlynn Woods who managed data entry and geocoding. Maps by James Gregory.
On the map above, do not assume that areas without circles were not restricted. Deed restrictions were only one of the mechanisms of segregation. Neighborhoods without covenants often practiced racial exclusion by other means.
There is a logic to the geography. Areas platted (subdivided) between 1925 and 1948 were most likely to be restricted. Realtors and developers wrote racial exclusions into the initial documents subdividing a future neighborhood. All properties in the subdivision were thus legally restricted. It was more complicated to restrict older areas. Neighborhood associations sometimes organized petition drives and convinced white homeowners to add racial restriction clauses to their properties.
Look at the language of restriction in these deeds. Some specify that neighborhoods are reserved for "Whites," while others enumerate the prohibited racial groups. And the wording is curious. In the terminology of the 1920s-1940s "Hebrews" meant Jews; "Ethiopians" meant African ancestry; "Malays" meant Filipinos; "Mongolians" meant all East Asians; "Hindus" meant all south Asians.
