We had a fantastic flight to Seattle on Air Canada, Vancouver is a great city to leave from although I am sure that our taxi on the runway was longer than our actual flight (which was about 25 minutes).

On arrival in Seattle we took light rail (yep just like the one on Canberra) into town and then caught the monorail to the Hotel we are staying at which is just near the Space Needle which is about 25 minutes walking distance from downtown – monorail less than 5 minutes at $2.50 USD (winner!)

The Queen Anne Inn where we are staying would probably agree that her finest years are behind her, but the place is clean, people at the front desk are pleasant – in my books great water pressure is overrated as are floors that are flat, having an incline or decline (depending upon where you are standing) adds a little unexpected adventure to your day. The great thing about this place is that all around there are great restaurants and pubs, as well as the beautiful parks and museums near the Space Needle.

Today we ventured back downtown for the Seattle Underground History Tour. This tour was recommended to us by a couple we met in Vancouver. The guides were interesting and funny, giving us a real sense of the extraordinary history of how Seattle came to be settled and then completely rebuilt. Here follows my attempt at a very abridged version of the history of Seattle.

Did you know that Seattle was initially named New York and that there is a distinct rivalry with Tacomba? I didn’t but that just could be because I’m not a local. Anyhow, Seattle was renamed (as of course there was already a New York) in honour of a Duwamish Indian leader named Sealth who had assisted and befriended the settlers.

Seattle was founded in 1851 with settlement really taking off the following year. In its early history Seattle was booming due to success with the lumber industry (a whole other very interesting story about corrupt officials here) and then the Klondike gold rush in 1897. However with the highs often there are the lows and history tells us that the original townsfolk weren’t natural settlers (who is really) and had been experiencing trouble with dampness because of the towns location and issues with incorrectly installed toilets and the associated sewage system ..yikes. In between tours of cities I often forget how fabulous toilet humour is for tour guides and it was overflowing today (pardon the pun I couldn’t resist). Seattle was also a “hotbed” for gambling and prostitution – our tour guide referred to the ladies of the night as seamstresses throughout the tour, kinda cute.

Back to the tour, in 1889 a young cabinetmaker by the name of Jonathon Black left some glue heating on the stove. When he realised his error he threw water on the glue which set alight the glue and the cabinetmakers shop – spreading the fire further, the fire then went to the shop next door you guessed it the liquor store until it finally reached the spot where the gun powder was kept. Oh yes and the only paid firefighter was on holidays in Chicago, Over 25 blocks were destroyed but not one fatality.

With the city centre destroyed the leaders of the community decided that for the rebuild all buildings must be made of stone and brick (not the highly flammable wood of the original buildings) and that the streets would be raised 22 feet higher so as to combat the damp and yes there was new plumbing coming as well..so some positive with the negative.

Not wanting to wait on the slow local government rebuild many merchants started to rebuild their shopfronts themselves and so the first or ground floor of their premises would be below the new pavement. Once the city rebuild was complete most of the shops had services that were at street level and below. Then the dastardly rats arrived to eat the wheat and saw dust stored in the first floors of these shops followed closely by the plague. This coincided with Seattle hosting the World Fair as a way of showcasing its sophisticated new city and so a decision was made to evacuate the lower ground premises and then to rid the place of the rats. It was a success and in 1909 the Alaska-Yukon -Pacific Exposition was held in Seattle.

So what became of these places underground well sadly left to fester they became places for all kinds of illegal and sneaky activities, or simply fell into disrepair.

In 1965 a clever guy realised the potential of this hidden part of Seattle and the first tour commenced and its now a thriving industry by all accounts. The businesses above the surface own the basements but the tour companies maintain the upkeep and use them for tours such as these.

Following the tour we had a great sun filled day down at the waterfront and around the city finishing up at a local Thai restaurant. Here are some of the snaps we took of splendid Seattle.