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 Pioneer Square Pergola is one of those structures that stands out amongst the surrounding buildings and bustling activity. It is one of three structures that are listed as a
National Historic Landmark as well as being a contributing structure in the Pioneer Square Skid-Road District (listed on
FindTheData here and listed on
NPS.gov here. It's also, coincidentally, listed as part of three structures in the
National Register of Historic Places (you can waymark it
here).
The following text is taken from the National Park Service website and describes this pergola:
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 elaborate Iron Pergola was erected in 1909 as a stop for the Yesler and James Street Cable Car Company. This waiting shelter was the most lavish of its kind west of the Mississippi with ornamental iron columns, wrought iron ornamentation and a large underground restroom. The pergola was designed by Seattle architect Julian Everett, who also designed the Leamington Hotel and Apartments. Today the Victorian-style structure serves a more recreational purpose by providing shade for visitors to one of the city's most popular public places. A 1972 restoration returned the Iron Pergola to its former elegance, and it remains one of the most memorable features of this historic area.
___________________________________________________
The NPS.gov's PDF datasheet description for this contributing structure (page 109-110) says the following about the pergola:
The now well-known cast-iron pergola, which was built in 1909 and completed early in 1910, is mainly sited along Yesler Way at the base of the virtual triangle that describes Pioneer Place. It consists of delicate intersecting barrel vaults of glass, which have a cast-iron framework and are supported on ornate columns with Corinthian capitals. The structure has a ridge line, ornamented with repeated circular rings in bent iron, ornamented brackets and finials, as
well as garland reliefs on the column shafts. In addition, four separate ventilating columns for the original underground comfort station are decorated with similar motifs. The ventilating columns double as light standards and carry tiers of round light globes.
Designed by architect Julian Everett, this open air structure has become the symbol not just of Pioneer Place, but of the entire Pioneer Square-Skid Road National Historic District. It was built, in part, to greet the many visitors who came to Seattle for the Alaska Yukon Exposition, located on the new campus of the University of Washington. The Pergola served not only as a shelter, but also as the upper part of the underground comfort station, frequently described, because of the elegance of its design, as the "Queen Mary of Johns." Both parts of the project were completed in November, 1909 with finishing touches to the "superstructure" completed during the week of January 15, 1910.
The whole project was described in glowing terms in 1910 in Pacific Builder and Engineer: "The man of travels will find nowhere in the Eastern hemisphere a sub-surface public comfort station equal in character to that which has recently been completed in the downtown district of Seattle .. " Before their construction, there was initial resistance to the building of the Pergola and the comfort station by the local Seattle press and owners of property near them. Once the Pergola was completed, it was hailed as a wonderful addition to an area still considered an important commercial center: "Three of the four nearest street corners are occupied by banks, and the fourth by the city ticket office of one of the transcontinental railroads. Two of the crosstown and the Tacoma interurban car lines terminate within a block of it; it is also passed by a large majority of the Puget Sound and coastwise steamship passengers. It is on the base of the triangle, the apex of which is occupied by the totem pole that has made Seattle famous."
The architect of the Pergola and comfort station, Julian Everett studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This suggests a new trend in the 1900s, when architectural practitioners of some education and sophistication began to arrive in Seattle. During the decade before, many of the architects came into the field of architecture through the building trades and/ or had received no formal education in architecture. Julian Everett had an independent practice in Seattle from 1904 to 1922. Aside from the Pergola, in Seattle, he designed Pilgrim Congregational Church (1905-6), still extant and Temple de Hirsch (1906-08).
___________________________________________________
This pergola was severely damaged by a truck in 2001 and I found a couple of articles here and here that highlight this incident. Fortunately, it was restored back to its original condition and there's a nearby metal plaque that highlights this incident as well. 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.