On the Road-Seattle-Pioneer Square

Wed. August 19

I really appreciate being in a hotel in the center of town because we can walk gto everything.

PIONEER SQUARE AND THE UNDERGROUND
The original city was built on marshy land near the Pugent Sound. When ;more people arrived and when Thomas Crapper of Seattle invented the flush toilet, the sewage would go down and then come back up when the tide came in. There was no where for the sewage to drain to so the solution that came up with was to raise all buildings at least one story so the front door would be on the 2nd level. Merchants could not afford to wait for this project to be completed so they maintained shops at ground level and any pedestrians had to climb a ladder to get to the street.

On the tour of the Underground you can see the old walls and some leftover trashed items. There were no windows below and the o nly natural light that came in was from(and still is from) skylights which lie in today's sidewalks above. On the current sidewalk, one can walk on top of these skylights

There are many original buildings located in this area. The oldest continuously operating tavern, the oldest restaurant, the first "skyscraper."

COLUMBIA BUILDING
This is now the tallest building in Seattle. It is twice the height of the Space Needle. You you go to its top and you see the Space Needle as a small building on one side. You see Rainier and Bainbridge Island and everything.