Welcome to Travel Tuesday! We had scheduled back to back tours on this day so we started with the Seattle Pike Place Market Food Tour and powerwalked our way over to do Bill Speidel’s Seattle Underground Tour as well!
This is me standing above the Seattle Underground — find out how this glass turned purple!
Seattle Underground Tour
I understand it looks like a pile o’ rubble down here. However, if you like history, this is definitely a fun tour to partake in!
Meeting Address: 614 1st Avenue (in Pioneer Place Park), Pioneer Square, between Cherry + James Street
Ticket Prices: $22 for adults (18-59yo)
Duration: 75 minutes
There are other underground tours available but Bill Speidel’s seemed like the best one to be able to tour the interconnecting tunnels that still exist beneath the streets of Seattle. (He was a local citizen who established these tours all the way back in 1965!)
Our guide was lovely, sprinkling history with humor throughout our 75 minute tour and answering all our questions. There were a couple kids on the tour and they handled it well. (Tours are free for kids 6 and below, but 75 minutes might be kinda rough for them.)
The tour starts right underneath Doc Maynard’s Public House, which also serves drinks/food if you happen to get thirsty/hungry. The first 15 minutes are a seated introduction so you can eat/drink/get an idea of what is to follow.
You’ll go through Pioneer Square (also known as Seattle’s birthplace) and past a number of storefronts/sidewalks that used to be what early Seattle comprised of.
In case you’re wondering why the Seattle underground even exists, this area used to be considered “ground level” when the city was built in the mid-19th century. However, a huge fire swept through in 1889 and they decided to elevate the streets and rebuild the city right on top!
Back in the day, pedestrians would have to climb down stairs to go between street levels and to get to the building entrances. They installed “pavement lights” with small panes of clear glass to allow for better lighting (they’re now a purple color due to the reaction of manganese in the glass to sun exposure!).
Lou Graham was the madame of a brothel in the Pioneer Square district where the Seattle Underground is located. She became one of Seattle’s wealthiest citizens, as “more city business was transacted at Lou’s than at City Hall.”
We did ask about ghostly/paranormal encounters as well (because how could we not), and our guide definitely did deliver. It’d be kinda fun/creepy to do this around Halloween with their Underground Paranormal Experience option!
Imagine if something climbed outta here… :[
- Have you ever been on an underground tour? What about a ghost tour?
- Is there anything like this where you live?
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Sooooo interesting! Thank you!
Thanks for reading! <3! Can't wait to see you!!
I had no idea about this part of Seattle’s history! I can’t believe there’s a whole underground Seattle. That’s so cool!! I hope there were no rats though!😂 That’s the only reason I wouldn’t want to go on an underground subway tunnels tour. If it weren’t for rats that would be a fun one! Ha!
Thanks for sharing this. I’ll have to go whenever I finally get to Seattle.
hahaha, right? I did not see any rats and we thankfully did not have any unfriendly (or any) ghostly/paranormal encounters, so all good! :P
I wanna go back to Seattle! There’s so much more I wanna visit in the Pacific Northwest! *-*
Farrah recently posted…Longwood Gardens
Enjoyed this tour a number of years ago. Funny how I have a lot of the same pictures, such as the toilet!
hehehe, I guess nothing’s changed much down in the underground — the toilet was a classic!
Farrah recently posted…Longwood Gardens
This sounds so interesting, I love joining tours like this. Thanks, heaps for sharing this info
Definitely a fun way to learn more about history! :]
Farrah recently posted…Longwood Gardens
Oh wow, this would be so cool. I’ve never done anything like this but I did a ghost tour in Nashville and I’ve been on the Jack the Ripper tour in London.
ShootingStarsMag recently posted…Top 10 Tuesday: Dynamic Duos + Harry Potter Giveaways
I’ve only done one ghost tour (in South Carolina) but it’d be fun to do more (as long as I don’t come across any paranormal encounters, haha)! The Jack the Ripper tour would be interesting to check out more.
Whaaaa!? This is so cool! I had no idea there was a whole area of Seattle like this! It’s pretty interesting that they just decided to rebuild above the previous level! Does that mean this area is prone to flooding when the Seattle weather gets really wet!?
I would love to take this tour!
Josy A recently posted…Destination Hikes – Review
Nor did I until this tour! :P I think they’ve mostly(?) managed to keep it safe from flooding since the places that still lead to the underground area are like the “basements” of enclosed buildings now!
Farrah recently posted…Longwood Gardens
Planning a surprise weekend getaway to Seattle with my hubby and I’m looking for interesting things to check out so thank you so much for sharing this unique activity!
Aww, that’s awesome! I hope you both have a lot of fun! If you’re a fan of trying different foods, I’d also recommend doing a food tour at the Pike Place Market! :]
Farrah recently posted…Longwood Gardens
Wow this would be a definite must visit if I was in Seattle. It feels rich in history.
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