Well, I grew up around here and the story I heard has to do with White Center being the red light district for the docks along the Nisqually back when there were big ships coming up the river and lots of warehouses along the river banks. 1890s to 1940s timeframe I think.

The story is that the Nisqually would flood regularly and when it did the warehouse rats would go up the hill to White Center, thus the name.