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The drive from Port Angeles to Seattle is not an easy one even though they are only about 80 miles apart. As the crow flies. The problem between here and there is the lovely and all-important Puget Sound. Oh sure, in theory there is a ferry that would transport a person and their vehicle from one side to the other, which would shave off a good fifty miles, but… It was the height of summer and the ferries were booked solid. It always surprises me—Washington state runs the largest ferry network in the U.S. and yet they never have enough ferries in the summer. As a tourist with limited time to explore their beautiful state, the last thing I want to do is spend hours waiting in line for a ferry.

So on we drove. We followed Puget Sound down south to the first place we could cross over, the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The suspension bridges (as of 2007 there are now two: one for each direction of travel) are just over a mile long and offer good views of the water. At least for the passenger. Before long we were heading up I-5 through the Emerald City.

The story of Seattle’s early days is such a comedy of errors that it is a wonder that the town survived, much less thrived to become the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. In late September of 1851 the Denny Party, led by Arthur Denny, arrived in the Puget Sound area. After a brief look around the settlers selected a location seemingly unused by the local Duwamish tribe. Apparently, they didn’t ask themselves why the natives eschewed Alki Point. They soon learned why it had remained uninhabited: winter was miserable as the unprotected point was lashed by cold storms and bitter winds. A move was in order and here again, the group selected a practically unsuitable site.

They moved across Elliot Bay and instead of choosing available high and dry land they settled on the mudflats that bordered the Sound. Against all odds, this new settlement—that they called Duwamps—survived to become Seattle. The arrival of David Swinson “Doc” Maynard in 1852 was the best thing that happened to the tiny logging community, though members of the Denny Party would not have agreed with that statement. Maynard drank alcohol, had been divorced, consorted with a woman who was not his wife, and gambled—all things that the original settlers found reprehensible. Yet Maynard had experience in starting a town, he was full of entrepreneurial spirit, and he had great rapport with the indigenous people of the area.

Maynard’s friendship with the chief of the Duwamish eventually gave the fledgling community its name. My favorite part of the story is that Chief Seattle insisted he be paid for the use of his name: a certain amount for every year of his life. Since he was already well into his years, the founders readily agreed, assuming the Chief would soon be dead. Chief Seattle had the last laugh in that regard since he lived, and received monetary payments, for 17 more years!

By the time Washington became a territory in 1853 Seattle had grown in size but still hadn’t made much progress as a city. Denny and other governing officials routinely found other uses, besides city infrastructure, for the money in the city coffers. The mud flats were frequently flooded and the rudimentary sanitary systems were subject to tidal fluctuations; basically the place was a mess. Henry Yesler, the owner of the only sawmill in town, struck upon the unscrupulous idea of selling his sawdust to the city to fill in the puddles and low spots in the streets. I think it fitting that Yesler’s sawmill gave us the term Skid Row.

The original term “Skid Road” referred to the lane which the logs were pulled, or skidded, down on their way to the sawmill. Since it was a physically dangerous part of town, as the logs often veered out of control, few people chose to live there. The sides of Skid Road became home to the down-and-out, the injured, and winos, hence the meaning behind the term as we use it today. Ironically, not much has changed in that part of town. The aptly named Pioneer Square area, where Seattle began and Yesler had his sawmill, is still home to a large homeless population (who live on Skid Row, as it were).

We now jump forward to the hot and dry summer of 1889. Most of Seattle, which was built of lumber from Yesler’s sawmill, went up in flames. The city’s poor infrastructure couldn’t supply enough water to stop the blaze and the entire business district was destroyed. The fire was probably one of the best things that ever happened to Seattle. Buildings were rebuilt, this time of more durable materials like brick and stone, and you could say that local government had a fire lit under its behind. The city soon embarked on an ambitious plan to rise above the mudflats and install water and sewer lines: they raised the streets.

Along both sides of the streets retaining walls were built to the desired height. Since the system was gravity fed, downtown streets were raised about 12 feet but on the outskirts, the streets reached heights of some 30-odd feet. Inside the walls, pipes were laid and then it was backfilled with any manner of material, much of it debris from the recent conflagration. The city did not attempt to raise the buildings nor the sidewalks. Try to imagine this, the sidewalks and building entrances were at least 12 feet below the road. The city acknowledged the problem by placing ladders at each intersection so that residents could climb down, shop, climb back up, cross the road, and then climb back down to finish their errands.

Obviously the gaping holes were hazardous and at least 17 people died from falling off the road. To escape liability the city coroner labeled their deaths as “involuntary suicides.” The city quickly covered the holes with flat roofs punctuated by small blocks of glass to allow light to reach the lower sidewalks. It was that lower area, shut off from the world above, that became known as the Seattle Underground. We took a tour of the Underground and learned that any and every imaginable activity took place down there. Interest in this somewhat shady part of Seattle’s past ultimately saved many of the old buildings in Pioneer Square from being torn down and replaced by a parking garage.

So, by the 1890s Seattle was much improved, but the thing that made the city great actually occurred some 800 miles away. In August 1896 the richest concentration of gold ever found was discovered along a tributary of the Klondike River. In July of 1897 one of two boats arrived in Seattle with over two tons of the shiny stuff (just two days earlier the other boat laden with gold had landed in San Francisco). To a country suffering through a financial recession and general economic downturn, the news was electrifying.

Thousands upon thousands of able-bodied men and women made their way west to begin the long trek to the riches of the north land. Canada required that each “sourdough” come equipped with enough supplies to last a year, which translated to roughly one ton of goods. With the required supplies running anywhere from $250 to $500 a person, Seattle merchants made a killing. Seattle played such an important role during the Gold Rush that the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park operates a visitor center just off Pioneer Square.

As a result of the Klondike Gold Rush Seattle blossomed as an outfitting and transportation center and never looked back. Several well-known companies emerged from early Seattle. In 1889 Washington Mutual (now known as WaMu) began as a finance company helping Seattleites rebuild from the Great Fire, in 1901 John Nordstrom returned from Alaska and opened a shoe shop with a friend (which evolved into Nordstrom), in 1907 young James Casey borrowed a small sum to start a messenger business (now UPS), and in 1916 William Boeing opened a small factory that primarily manufactured seaplanes.

Touring downtown Seattle’s highlights is like a walk through time. We started at Pioneer Square which had its beginnings in 1852 before meandering up to Pike Place Market which opened in 1907. Pike Place is a multi-level conglomeration of farmer’s market, seafood stands, art galleries, restaurants, and craft stalls; almost anything under the sun can be found there. Tourists, like us, go there not only to shop but to watch the fishmongers of the Pike Place Fish Market literally throw seafood around. Catch of the day takes on a whole new meaning at that seafood shop.

Across the street from the famous fishmongers and the market’s mascot—Rachel, the life-sized, bronze piggy bank—is where Starbucks began. The famous coffee company started in a shop at Pike Place Market in 1971 and is still fueling Seattle’s (and the world’s) love affair with coffee. After wandering from level to level and picking up some scrumptious cherries at one of the market’s many stands, we headed over to the Seattle Center.

The 28-acre complex was built to host the 1962 World’s Fair. Called the “Century 21 Exposition”, the fair focused on the future of the world which by then also included space; the Ford Motor Company created an “Adventures in Outer Space” exhibit and Boeing built a Spacearium. While neither of those exhibits remain (but wouldn’t it be cool if they did?) two very futuristic constructions are still there; the Monorail and the Space Needle. The Monorail still runs along its one mile route, connecting Seattle Center with the actual center of town. We were told that sometime this summer the Monorail logged its millionth mile, that’s quite a milestone. As for the Space Needle, we learned that the top of it was actually designed to look like a UFO. I always thought so…

Since we had been given discount coupons for the Space Needle we took the 43 second trip up to the observation deck. Though the top of the Space Needle measures in at 605’, which made it the tallest structure west of the Mississippi in 1962, the “O Deck” is at a mere 520’. Actually since the Seattle Center is on a slight rise, the view—on clear days—is spectacular. It was early evening when we stepped out onto the circular platform and there was still plenty of light. Beyond Puget Sound, the cloud-covered Olympic Mountains dominated the western skyline, Lake Washington glistened to the north, Mount Rainier was barely visible through the haze to the south, and at our feet lay all of downtown.

We could even see Safeco Field where we’d caught a Mariners game earlier in the week. We must have picked a good night to attend because the Ms actually won the game, something they haven’t done a lot of this year. As of this writing they are the third worst team in all of Major League Baseball. Oh well, there’s always next year. We stayed on the O Deck until sunset; it wasn’t a multi-colored dazzler, instead the sun calmly slid from view. It was a fitting end to our time of exploring in downtown Seattle.

Photos: View our photographs from Seattle, Washington.

Dates: We stayed in the Seattle area from 07/27/08 to 08/15/08.