King Street to Pioneer Square and Downtown Seattle Walking Tour

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Let's begin our tour narration here at King Street Station. Built in 1906, King Street Station once served as a train station for the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway. The Reed and Stem firm's design of the brick, stone, and terra cotta building with a four-sided clock tower was inspired by the campanile of Venice, Italy in the Piazza de San Marco. The station is now apart of the Amtrak rail and Sound Transit commuter intermodal system with commercial spaces for lease. It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

2. Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum (Curently Closed)

This museum was located in Seattle's historic Pioneer Square for many years before closing in late 2017. The Seattle Metropolitan Police Museum is searching for donations that will allow it to reopen in a new location. Prior to closing, it was the largest police museum in the western U.S. and featured historical displays with an interactive learning area for children and adults. The museum had a fleet of historic police vehicles and offered displays that educated the public about the historic, cultural, technological and social transitions of the Seattle Police Department and King County Sheriffs Office.

3. Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Seattle Unit

Housed in the historic former Cadillac Hotel building in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood, the Seattle Unit of Klondike Gold Rush National Park is an interactive and interpretive museum. The park highlights the journey that gained popularity among wealth seekers in the late 19th century. Through hands-on and educational displays, exhibits, and activities, visitors can learn what drove this frantic Northern stampede, the journey the trekkers faced, and the results of the pilgrimage. The building itself was constructed in 1889 and is a fine example of Victorian and Italianate architecture.

4. The Heritage Building

This five story building was completed in 1904, a time when Seattle's economy and population was booming. The building's original owners, the Pope and Talbot Lumber Company, demonstrate the importance of the lumber industry to Seattle's economic development. Thanks to investments in railroads and infrastructure, many industries and workers chose Seattle over San Francisco and other West Coast cities. In addition to natural resources, Seattle offered a perfect location for businesses who wished to ship goods to Asia and Alaska.

5. Grand Central Arcade

Constructed in 1890 and known as the Squire-Latimer Building for many years, this ornate brick building was the home of Seattle's Grand Central Hotel (1897-1933). Like many luxury hotels, the Grand Central did not outlast the lean years of the Great Depression. The building is now home to a two-story indoor retail area known as the Grand Central Arcade.

6. Grand Central Hotel Historical Marker

Constructed in 1890 as the Squire-Latimer Building, this office building soon became home to Seattle's Grand Central Hotel. The business accommodated travelers passing through Seattle on their way to the gold rush in Canada following the start of the Klondike Gold Rush which began in 1896 when gold was discovered in a tributary in Canada's Yukon Territory. In the first year, an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people traveled to the Yukon to strike it rich finding gold. A portion of the tens of thousands traveling through port cities went through Seattle. This marker shares the history of the hotel which operated for several decades and serves as a reminder of the impact of the gold rush on the city's history.

7. Prudential Building (Fred Cole Building)

The Prudential Building likely was built between 1902 and 1905, a time of great prosperity and growth in Seattle. Part of the city's rapid expansion was related to the arrival of settlers and businesses who hoped to do business in the Klondike region of the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. This factory building is one of many examples of the influence of the Chicago School architectural style.

8. Maynard Building

Completed in 1892 and home to Seattle's first bank, this building was named in honor of David "Doc" Maynard, who is often referred to as the "Founding Father" of Seattle. The building was known as the Dexter Horton Bank building prior to the 1920s. Horton established his bank in 1870, a firm that later became part of the Seattle First National Bank.

9. Pioneer Square Totem Pole, Pioneer Building, and Pergola

The Pioneer Building, Pergola and Totem Pole tell of a time when Pioneer Square was the heart of Seattle. These three landmarks offer an unusual conglomeration that represents Seattle’s unique history. Their origins differ- built on the site of the home of a founding father of Seattle (1892), constructed as a place to wait for a street car (1909), stolen from Alaska (1790), respectively. Time has altered the Pioneer Building, Pergola, and the Totem Pole, just as it has Seattle.

10. Pioneer Building and Pioneer Square Neighborhood

The landmarks building within Seattle's Pioneer Square, this Richardsonian Romanesque stone building was completed in 1892- three years after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed thirty-two square blocks of the nascent city. The building features terra cotta and red brick and was the tallest building in the state until 1904. The building has reflected the larger history of the city during the past century. During the mining boom in the Klondike, for example, over thirty mining companies held offices in the building. During the era of Prohibition, the city's largest and most infamous "speakeasy" kept Seattle residents supplied with illicit spirits. The building was completely vacant in the late 1970s as most of the businesses moved to newer buildings north of Pioneer Square. When the Pioneer Building was threatened with demolition (a fate shared by many nearby buildings) Seattle residents worked to place the building on the National Register of Historic Places. This effort began in the 1970s and spearheaded the drive to restore the neighborhood.

11. Seattle Underground

One of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, Seattle Underground offers guided tours though a series of tunnels below the streets and buildings of the historic Pioneer Square Neighborhood. The tunnels are the result of raising the height of the city streets in response to the need to provide better drainage for waste water. Rather than physically lifting buildings as occurred in some cities, officials in Seattle decided to raise their city by simply raising the street by about ten feet while building owners made the second story of each building the first floor. This created a scenario where the former first floor of many downtown buildings were underground. Once the massive construction project was complete, the underground passageways went through a variety of transformations. Over time, these tunnels and basement were host to everything from criminal organizations to the city's counterculture. Once home to brothels, opium dens, gambling centers, and speakeasies, the Underground Tunnels are open to the public through Bill Spiegel’s Underground Tour.

12. Hoge Building

During Seattle's rapid growth as a western Boom Town, the rapid construction of the Hoge Building -- 18 stories -- took less than a year to complete, and allowed it to be the tallest building in Seattle during the pre-WWI era. The building represents Seattle's transition from frontier town to metropolis, largely resulting from railroad arrival because of Seattle's access to Asia and Alaska.

13. Rector Hotel (Hotel St. Charles)

The Rector Hotel was designed by John Graham Sr., a Seattle architect employed by Alson Brown, the son of a timber baron who hoped to diversify his families investments. The hotel's location next to the Grand Opera House proved fortuitous and the two buildings were adjoined at the balcony level. The hotel was one of many built during Seattle's initial economic and population boom (1902-1920) and demonstrates the rapid commercial expansion of the city during the Klondike Gold Rush.

14. The Arctic Building (Arctic Club Seattle)

The Arctic Building, now The Arctic Club Seattle Hotel, is a Beaux-Arts style masterpiece in the city of Seattle that was built in 1916 by two prominent Washington architects. Known as the building with the walrus tusks, it once served as the headquarters of the Arctic Club - an all-male business and social club for the city's elite. This architectural gem, with distinctive decorative features reminiscent of its namesake, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 1978 and is a City of Seattle Landmark.

15. The Rainier Club

This historic building has been home to the Rainier Club since 1904 and has hosted social events that include numerous presidents, captains of industry, diplomats, and world leaders among its guests and members. Established in 1888, the Rainier Club first held its meetings in the mansion of one of its members and a room at the Seattle Theater. The club is named in honor of Peter Rainier, an 18th century British naval officer.

16. First Methodist Episcopal Church (The Daniels Recital Hall)

Now connected to a new, towering skyscraper, the church opened in 1908. The church, itself, was the first organized church congregation in the settlement era, established in 1853. The building arrived during Seattle's economic, population, and construction boom after the Klondike Gold Rush. First Methodist Episcopal Church is the only extant downtown church building dating from this era.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

King Street to Pioneer Square and Downtown Seattle Walking Tour

Created by Clio Admin on April 24th 2017, 10:10:54 pm.

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Description

This walking tour includes a host of Seattle landmarks in less than two miles. The tour starts at King Street Station and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Visitor's Center winds its way north to Pioneer Square with stops at the Grand Central Hotel, Prudential Building, and some of downtown Seattle's most iconic buildings and landmarks within Pioneer Square before moving further north to the Rector Hotel and Rainer Club..

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King Street to Pioneer Square and Downtown Seattle Walking Tour

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