Pioneer Square

Historic waterfront district just south of downtown Seattle, Washington State. It was the centre of the city from 1852 onwards, but was destroyed by a devastating fire in 1889. Pioneer Square extends for 30 blocks, beginning at the western end of Yesler Way.

During the reconstruction of Pioneer Square in the late 19th century, the use of landfill from the city's hills left the lower floors of earlier buildings here beneath street level; they now form a tourist attraction known as Seattle's Underground. The square has galleries, boutiques and the 42-storey Smith Tower (built in 1914, and for a long time the tallest building in the West). Just south of here is the Seattle unit of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park, which commemorates the city's part in the 1897 rush.