Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square On Seattle Waterfront

Pioneer Square marks Seattle’s original downtown, dating back to 1852. The district is characterized by late nineteenth century brick and stone buildings, and one of the nation’s best surviving collections of Romanesque Revival style urban architecture.

Pioneer Square is home to art galleries, internet companies, cafes, sports bars, nightclubs, bookstores, the Seattle Underground Tour, and a museum and info center for the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.

The popular Seattle Underground Tour visits the eerie sunken storefronts of what was ground-level Pioneer Square before the Great Fire of 1889. Smith Tower, which overlooks the square, was the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it was completed in 1914. Ride the last manually-operated West Coast elevator up to the Smith Tower Observation Deck for a panoramic view of downtown Seattle, the waterfront and Mt. Rainier.

Excerpt From Seattle.gov

The Alliance for Pioneer Square