Chief Seattle Fountain - Pioneer Square-Skid Road District - Seattle, WA - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings 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 Chief Seattle Fountain stands out in the open and next to the Pioneer Building. It is a contributing structure (ID #64) in the Pioneer Square Skid-Road District (listed on FindTheData here. The NPS.gov's PDF datasheet description for this contributing structure (page 110-111) says the following about the Chief Seattle Fountain:

The bust of Chief Seattle in Pioneer Place was sculpted by James Wehn and completed in 1909. It has been part of Pioneer Place since that time and appeared in the public square around the same time as Julian Everett's Pergola. These additions to Pioneer Place also coincide with the Alaska Yukon Exposition of 1909-1910, which was located on the new campus of the University of Washington and drew many visitors to Seattle, enhancing Seattle's image as a new city of rising importance, as well as the gateway to Alaska and the Yukon. The bust is a permanent part of Pioneer Place. James Wehn, in his day, was a noted Seattle sculptor, who had spent his youth as an orphan and a protege of Father Francis Xavier Prefontaine, the head of Seattle's first Catholic parish. The lower fountain portion of the work has been restored, while the statue retains the essential artistic qualities that have always distinguished it.

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There is a nice historic writeup on the artist, James Wehn, here as well as some information on Chief Seattle, a friend of the white man and for which the City of Seattle is named after, here.

Name of Historic District (as listed on the NRHP): Pioneer Square-Skid Road District Link to nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com page with the Historic District: [Web Link] Address: Pioneer Square, at the intersection of First Ave. and Yesler Way. How did you determine the building to be a contributing structure?: Narrative found on the internet (Link provided below) NRHP Historic District Waymark (Optional): Not listed Optional link to narrative or database: Not listed

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