Manuel Lopes (barber)

Manuel Lopes was one of Seattle's first barbers and its first Black resident.

Lopes was born in Cape Verde. He became a sailor prior to settling in Massachusetts. In 1858, about seven years after the founding of Seattle (some sources say he arrived in 1852), Lopes became the city's first Black resident. He opened a restaurant, and became one of Seattle's first barbers. In the early 1870s, Lopes eventually moved to Port Gamble, Washington in search of work during one of Seattle's frequent economic slumps.

Manuel was a musician, and would signal mealtimes by marching up and down the main street beating out a rhythm on a snare drum.

Sources

• Quintard Taylor. The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1994.
• Paul De Barros. Jackson Street After Hours: The Roots of Jazz in Seattle. Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 1993.
• Seattle Times article
• Manuel Lopes biography
• Seattle Post Intelligencer article