Towards the end of our visit to Seattle we undertook an amazing journey through the city's underground. Don't get the wrong idea and think that we took a railway journey. No, this escorted tour with expert commentary by a knowledgeable guide took about 90 minutes and we walked the whole way. The underground city came into being in an odd way. Seattle was originally settled on the marshy shores of Puget Sound, but this proved problematic for several reasons, not least the ground being flooded on occasions by king tides or by storms or water running downhill from the high ground behind. So, in parts of the city centre streets and entrances were raised to first floor level, but some of the old infrastructure remained at ground level. In addition, Seattle was host to the original skid row - literally. Felled logs were send down the slope to the town centre for loading on to ships for export to other parts of the counttry and to help this process, the slope was evened out by sluicing large amounts of water down the route so that land towards the wharf was slowly built up - also aiding the raising of streets and buildings in central areas.
The outcome of all this, not to forget a major fire that did for Seattle what the great fires of London and San Francisco did for those cities, was to create a 'submerged' part of the city, which still had uses and various bits of infrastructure like connecting corridors. Let's have a look first at some of the buildings - historical, present, and schematic - as in the case of the second image that shows the street and access raising that went on.
The street-scape is not quite how one envisages an American city. But underground is something else again - quite unusual:
A sky-light to the street above.
Part of the fairly shonky water-pipe system that was unable to generate enough flow to put the big fire out.
The tour was fascinating and well-done. We received great insight into the city's 19th century role, including a starting point for miners travelling to the Klondike. The city did well out of receiving the gold, helping to supply the necessities of life to the miners, and providing entertainment for them. Underground Seattle is adjacent to what was ... rather than what I presume still is ... a very large red-light district that was home to some classy madams. We were shown the next picture of one of the most wealthy business-persons in 19th century Seattle and some of her helpers.
AS
The outcome of all this, not to forget a major fire that did for Seattle what the great fires of London and San Francisco did for those cities, was to create a 'submerged' part of the city, which still had uses and various bits of infrastructure like connecting corridors. Let's have a look first at some of the buildings - historical, present, and schematic - as in the case of the second image that shows the street and access raising that went on.
The street-scape is not quite how one envisages an American city. But underground is something else again - quite unusual:
A sky-light to the street above.
Part of the fairly shonky water-pipe system that was unable to generate enough flow to put the big fire out.
The tour was fascinating and well-done. We received great insight into the city's 19th century role, including a starting point for miners travelling to the Klondike. The city did well out of receiving the gold, helping to supply the necessities of life to the miners, and providing entertainment for them. Underground Seattle is adjacent to what was ... rather than what I presume still is ... a very large red-light district that was home to some classy madams. We were shown the next picture of one of the most wealthy business-persons in 19th century Seattle and some of her helpers.
AS
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