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Seattle’s
Central
Neighborhoods
West of Interstate-5
North to south
Magnolia
Interbay
Queen
Ann
Lake
Union
Waterfront
Seattle
Center
Eastlake
Belltown
Downtown
Pioneer Square
International
District
East of Interstate-5
North to South
Montlake
Madison
Capital
Hill
Madrona
Park
First
Hill
Central Area
City of Seattle
City
Page
Neighborhood information
& attraction pages
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Central / Downtown
South / West
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Pioneer Square is where Seattle,
Washington Started. Pioneer Square is located at the south end
of the Downtown Seattle area were the north/south streets take a 30°
turn. For a long time the Pioneer Square
area was “skid-row” with a atmosphere to match. Today there are still a couple of Missions
for the homeless but the area has become up-scale with restaurants and
lodging. The area has an active
nightlife and tourist attractions in daylight hours.
 The map shown at the left is of the downtown area of
Seattle. The First Hill district is in
yellow, downtown is tan and the waterfront area is green. Pioneer Square lies at the south end of the
downtown area where the streets take off at a diagonal.
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Street
Map – Click on street
to see a more detailed map of the area.
This map is over 200K so it will load slowly if you have dial-up.
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Pioneer Square is where Seattle began. It runs on first Avenue from Columbia Street on the north to Jackson Street on
the south. The area also filters up
the hill to 4th or 5th Avenues. This area was originally inhabited by
native Americans. In 1852 settlers
arrived with thoughts of a new life mainly financed by the abundant natural
resources of the area.
Today Yesler Way looks like any other Seattle street but its
beginnings were that of a skid road, lined with small greased logs. Yesler
Way is the street at the intersection where the
streets turn near the bottom of the map.
It was a natural slide from the forested hills to the east to Henry
Yesler’s sawmill on the waterfront.
The greased skid road was used to transport the cut logs to the
sawmill.
Seattle’s oldest traffic intersection is Yesler Way and First Avenue. Pioneer
Place Park
is located at the intersection. A
Victorian iron and glass pergola left over from the days of rail trolleys is
located here, it is a must see.
Pioneer Square is one of the largest “Old Town’s”
in the nation and today it has come back to life with most of the grand old buildings
being restored inside and out.
Pioneer Square
http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/tour/pioneer.htm
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Recommended Attractions in Pioneer Square
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Attractions in
the area
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Klondike Gold Rush
National Historical Park
117 S Main
Street
Seattle, WA 98104
206-553-7220
http://www.nps.gov/klse/
This
National Park is two levels of photographs, equipment, and other displays to
the 1897 gold rush that left Seattle for Alaska.
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Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour
608
First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
206-682-4646
http://www.undergroundtour.com/
This
is a leisurely, guided walking tour beneath Seattle’s sidewalks and streets.
You
see the original first floor storefronts that originally existed in old
downtown Seattle
and are now below ground level.
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Smith Tower
506
Second Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
206-622-4004
Visit
their web site.
The
observation deck on the Smith
Tower is the original
Seattle Skyline view. Ride to the
observation deck in Seattle’s
only manually operated original 1914 elevators. There is a fee to go to the observation
deck
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