Pioneer Square, Seattle

Pioneer Square is the original heart of Seattle and its oldest neighborhood, a compact historic district near the downtown waterfront famous for its cohesive Romanesque Revival architecture in red brick and stone. Founded as the settlement that grew into the city, it preserves the streetscape of Seattle's late 19th-century rebuilding.

Its history turned on catastrophe. The original wooden town burned to the ground in the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, and the city rebuilt in fireproof brick and stone, much of it at once, giving the district an unusual architectural unity. When the streets were later regraded and raised, the former ground floors were left below the new sidewalks, creating the buried passages explored today on the popular Underground Tour. Pioneer Square boomed again as an outfitting point for prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897.

In character, the neighborhood centers on a small triangular plaza with an ornate iron pergola and a totem pole, ringed by handsome commercial buildings. It has long been a hub for art galleries, independent bookstores, and the city's creative community, and it holds the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park museum, which tells the story of that era for free. The district's Occidental Square, a brick plaza shaded by trees and pergolas, hosts markets, food trucks, and gatherings among totem poles and the surrounding historic facades.

For visitors, Pioneer Square offers walkable historic streets, galleries, cafes, and the quirky Underground Tour beneath the sidewalks. It sits between the stadiums to the south and the downtown core and waterfront to the north, an easy stroll from Pike Place Market, and is served by light rail and streetcar. The district is flat and mostly accessible above ground, though the underground passages involve stairs and uneven footing. First Thursday art walks each month are a lively time to visit.