Pioneer Square is the oldest neighborhood of Seattle, with a diverse mix of renovated office buildings, art galleries, and music and dance clubs. This area, now a National Historic District, is a bit south of downtown Seattle and is also bordered by the waterfront, the Chinatown-International District and the new sports stadiums. Pioneer Square grew up in a hurry after a catastrophic fire in 1889 consumed its wooden buildings. As with many of these famous conflagrations (like the infamous Chicago Fire), this was a blessing in disguise that allowed for the construction of a slew of sturdy brick structures with attractive facades and ornamentation.
An interesting story that would go well with a beer is the old Skid Road, on which timber logs were slid down the sloping thoroughfare (now Yesler Way) to the lumber mill and docks below. The tale has it that eventually many poor souls would wind up here and the term morphed into Skid Row, a vivid phrase used to describe any strip populated with derelicts and bums. Unfortunately, there still is a significant homeless problem here, as there is in other parts of the city and large urban areas in general.
Many old elements are worth a look around Pioneer Square, starting with the square itself. This park is not in fact a square, but is shaped as a triangle, and it is bordered by the Pioneer Building of 1890. Designed by prolific local architect, Emile Fisher, in the popular Victorian Romanesque-revival style, its attractive masonry facade spells out its name over its central entrance arch, but an earthquake in 1949 made its tower fall. The nearby pergola shelter of cast iron and glass has a Euro-Victorian style to it. Designed by Julian F. Everett in 1909, the pergola has recently been restored. A nearby totem pole by Tlingit craftsmen casts the final touch to this retro plaza.
The L. C. Smith Tower was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River when it was completed in 1914. Designed with its distinctive white exteriors by the architecture firm Gaggin and Gaggin, this landmark of 42 stories is topped with a pyramidal peak and has an observation deck. The nearby King Street Station has a clock tower design that is vaguely modeled after the famous San Marco campanile in Venice. More contemporary elements in the district from the 1970’s include Occidental Park, with its cobblestone paths and a quartet of totem poles, and the smallish but splashy Waterfall Garden.
If you want to delve a bit more into the local history, join one of the popular underground tours. A guide will lead you through grungy below-grade streets, which had been elevated to accommodate the construction of sewers. Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park contains a free small museum featuring exhibits documenting the gold rush of 1897. There is even a Russian submarine at Pier 48, so there is something for everyone around Pioneer Square.