Pioneer Square - Seattle, WA - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

Visitors to the historic Pioneer Square are surrounded with many historical buildings and structures, many of which contain plaques and monuments strategically placed throughout the square to attest to this plaza's volatile history over the decades. The following excerpt is taken from the HistoryLink.org website to describe this square's history:

First settled in 1852, Pioneer Square encompasses the birthplace of modern Seattle and its first downtown. Most of the Square's buildings were erected within a decade of the disastrous Great Fire of June 6, 1889. The district began a slow decline during World War I and became better known as a derelict "Skid Road." Preservationists rallied in the 1960s to save the area's exquisite ensemble of Victorian and Edwardian Era architecture from "urban renewal." Pioneer Square was protected by a 30-acre Historic District in 1969, followed by a slightly larger Special Review District. The core of the neighborhood lies between Cherry Street on the north, 2nd Avenue on the east, Alaskan Way on the west, and S. King Street on the south.

_____________________________________________________

In the heart of Pioneer Square, the land from which Seattle's industrial base grew, stand the Iron Pergola and the Tlingit Indian Totem Pole. This property was originally the site of the city's first mill, built in 1853 by Henry Yesler. A massive street-straightening project in the 1880s led the city to condemn the land, and then turned it into a public square. The Pioneer Building, the Iron Pergola and the Totem Pole were designated as National Historic Landmarks in 1977 and a plaque resides on the front of Pioneer Building to commemorate this.

Most visitors to Pioneer Square don't realize that there used to be a very elaborate restroom (or 'comfort station') that existed directly beneath this pergola that was considered "the finest underground restroom in the United States" at the time. It was sealed off to the public in 1956 and only accessible now via Bill Speidel's Underground Tour of this historic underground district which begins inside the Pioneer Building.

Pioneer Square also had another unfortunate incident occur on February 28, 2001 in which a young man, Kristopher Kime, was killed by a street thug during a Mardi Gras celebration in Pioneer Square that turned into a riot. There is a memorial plaque that lies on the ground near the Pergola that memorializes Kris Kime.

This park may be very small but holds much history throughout, so stop for a minute, take in the city views and sit and relax on one of the many park benches that lie within the park.

Wikipedia Url: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log to this waymark you need to visit and write about the actual physical location. Any pictures you take at the location would be great, as well.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/28/2024 KidWrangler visited it 08/21/2022 prussel visited it 06/05/2021 paisleykmt visited it 04/26/2021 T0SHEA visited it 08/18/2018 tnwave visited it 10/06/2017 capsai visited it 08/08/2016 Kladings visited it 11/16/2015 gsbarnes visited it 08/13/2015 m&m O visited it 08/10/2015 stinger503 visited it 10/10/2014 quigquay visited it 01/14/2013 petendot visited it

View all visits/logs