09/29/2026
🌎 Beyond the Postcard: Seattle Underground
Most people explore Seattle above ground — Pike Place Market, the waterfront, the Space Needle...
But some of Seattle’s most fascinating history is actually under your feet.
In 1889, the Great Seattle Fire destroyed much of the city’s business district. When Seattle rebuilt, city leaders made an unusual decision: they raised the street level in parts of downtown.
New sidewalks and streets were eventually constructed above portions of the old city.
The result?
Old storefronts, sidewalks, entrances and passageways were left behind beneath the new streets.
Today, you can actually descend below modern Seattle and walk through parts of this forgotten world — remnants of the city that existed more than a century ago.
And there are some wonderfully strange details.
Those unusual purple glass squares you sometimes see embedded in sidewalks around Pioneer Square? They weren't simply decoration. They were designed as skylights, allowing daylight to reach the underground spaces below.
Suddenly, something you could walk over without noticing becomes part of the story.
That's what I love about places like this.
We tend to think of cities as what we see today. But underneath them are previous versions — old streets, old buildings, old decisions and thousands of stories.
📍 Seattle Underground | Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington
Would you rather explore Seattle from the top of the Space Needle... or underneath its streets?
I'm choosing both. 😄
This is Beyond the Postcard — because sometimes you have to go beneath the surface to discover the best part of the story.
No more someday.
Sailfish Travel