U.S. Immigrant Station and Assay Office
historic place
In Seattle, Washington, in King County, stands the U.S. Immigrant Station and Assay Office. This historic place was completed in 1931. Designed in a classical revival style, the building served two distinct federal purposes. It housed U.S. Immigration Offices and detention facilities, primarily for undocumented Chinese immigrants, enforcing the Chinese Exclusion Act. It also operated as a U.S. Assay Facility, analyzing gold and silver from the Klondike Gold Rush. The Assay Office closed in 1955, and the immigration center ceased operations in 2004. Today, this structure is known as Inscape Arts, providing studios for artists. Its history reflects important chapters in Pacific Northwest immigration and economic development.