Where in the world is White Center?!

Rat City Rags is a White Center based craft venture powered by two corporate worker-bees by day, artistic wunderkinds at night. The White Center neighborhood is at the southwest edge of Seattle, in King County, where a plateau stretches from Puget Sound in the west to the Duwamish River in the east.

What the heck kind of a name is Rat City Rags?!

We took our name from the old, World War II era nickname given to White Center. How White Center became known as “Rat City” is up for debate- possible origins of this name include military references.  The local wartime military establishment was called the Reserve Army Training Center by some accounts. The military would sometimes designate an area as out-of-bounds for servicemen, and off-limits places (White Center included) were deemed Restricted Alcohol Territory.

Also, local historians recall that the youth at the Southgate Skate Center were known as ‘rink rats’.  Regardless of the source, the name Rat City was coined, and many in White Center love the scruffy nickname. Rodents, it would seem, had nothing to do with it.

Check out HistoryLink for more White Center heritage.

What does Rat City Rags do, fer cryin’ out loud?

We hand-craft a variety of textile products- market & yoga bags, all natural heating pillows, and more. As our product line grows, we’ll post photos and detailed descriptions.