Seattle Underground: The Subterranean Neighborhood
This neighborhood just isn’t what it used to be!
No one can argue with how the Pioneer Square area of Seattle has changed over the last couple of decades. Before it was what you see now, there was a whole different neighborhood of streets and storefronts, all of which were destroyed in the 1889 Seattle fire.
Out of bad came good, and the fire turned out to be a turning point (for the better) for the city. Although it totally devastated 29 square blocks of the city, including nearly the entire business district, most of the wharves, and the railroad terminals, the rebuilding of the city post-fire changed the city’s future. At that point, Seattle began the process of becoming a real city.
The day after the fire, a town meeting was held, and it was agreed that the city would be rebuilt with wider streets, and that brick buildings would be required. The rebuilding began immediately, and within one year Seattle had nearly doubled in population.
If you stroll through Pioneer Square today, you’ll find many of those very buildings that were required to be built of brick or stone still standing. The storefronts may be different, the businesses of a type never imagined in 1889, but the people and vitality of the neighborhood are not all that much different.
Beneath the heavily traveled streets of Pioneer Square, however, still lies that other city.
The Seattle Underground Tour lets you tour that city beneath the city, in a three block-tour, giving you a chance to discover the underground streets and storefronts. It’s a chance to get a feel for what it must have been like to live in Seattle at the end of the 19th century. You’ll also hear stories about Seattle’s rather colorful, and at a times rather messy, past. This isn’t the stuff we learned about in our history class! But you’ll have to decide for yourself what is true, and what is simply urban legend.
The tour takes about an hour and a half. Wear good walking shoes, and prepare for a little exertion. People will physical limitations may not find suitable access, as this is truly an underground tour.
Location: The tour leaves from Pioneer Square, 608 First Avenue.
Price: Tickets are $11 for adults, $9 for seniors (60+) and students, and $5 for children. Children under the age of seven are not encouraged on the tour for physical reasons.
Photo credit: flickr
4 Comments
[...] you’re a fan of subterranean cities, and have already checked out the Seattle Underground, consider heading south to Portland for a weekend where you can check out their underground [...]
If you haven’t already done so, check out “Doc Maynard: The Man Who Built Seattle”. It gives a truly excellent (and humorous) historical account of Seattle’s start. Plus, the Underground Tour starts at Doc Maynard’s, so there you go.
Oh, and your post says the Great Seattle Fire was in 1989. Small typo there. =)
The Great Seattle Fire was in 1889 not 1989.
Of course it was, Alexis. I apparently can’t type! I’ll get the date corrected.