On Thursday, we took the train from Tacoma into Seattle.
Among other things that day (see subsequent posts), we walked to Pioneer Square to attend one of the famous Underground Tours.
After paying our admission fees, we were herded into a room with lots of benches and these two fellas staring at us. One is a doctor and the other one is...okay, I can't remember exactly who these guys are, but they had a lot to do with the Seattle history.
This guy even said so. He prepared us for the tour by giving us a bit of history of the city and the people involved in creating that history.
We went outside for the Underground tour! Here is the Smith Tower.
Our guide beneath the city. We went down a flight of stairs to get here. This used to be street level. If you look closely at the picture, the current sidewalks are above the first story of that building.
Several forces led to this, but one of the most prominent was the plumbing situation in Very Early Seattle. It took several attempts to make it work correctly, but then the tides and a 25 block fire continued to make things difficult. This is an original toilet, raised on a platform to help with the aforesaid plumbing issues.
Supposedly haunted. Do you see any ghosts?
We are under the sidewalks! The concrete arches were put in place to support the sidewalks and have been there ever since. Before they were put in, this was essentially an underground alley as city planners raised the street level, rebuilt the streets, and regraded the landscape. More than one poor soul fell into the open alleys before they were covered and the storefronts raised to the current level. Until that happened though, people used ladders to get from a storefront from one side of the street to the other side.
Doorway. Bricked in.
See any ghosts yet?
Lots of interesting junk thrown down here over the decades.
You can see people walking above. Some of the glass is gone. And in other places around this area, there are actually holes in the side that you can peer down into.
After the tour ended, we walked across the street for a drink at the Merchants Cafe. Seattle's oldest restaurant.
Gorgeous light fixture inside Merchants Cafe.
After our drink, we hit the pavement again to catch the Sounder train back to Tacoma.
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