Downtown Seattle Self-Guided Walking Audio Tour

Who doesn’t love a giant Ferris wheel? Check out Seattle’s Great Wheel across the pier. You might assume the city built this Ferris wheel, but that’s actually not the case! Instead, the wheel owes its existence to Seattle businessman Hal Griffith.

To our right is the bustling Miner’s Landing, chock full of food and fun for the whole family. It’s almost always buzzing with activity! But Seattle hasn’t always been this buzzing. Long before any of these piers existed, this land was home to numerous Native tribes best known under the umbrella term of Coast Salish.

Keep walking past the Frankfurter Hot Dog stand. On the building beyond, do you see the sign that reads “Ye Olde Curiosity Shop”? Curious indeed! That shop got its start long ago, thanks to Joseph Stanley of Ohio. Growing up, Stanley always had an affinity for natural oddities and artifacts.

Do you see the beautiful cast iron pergola just ahead? That was once a cable car waiting station. Today, it’s one part of Seattle’s most historic neighborhood: Pioneer Square. Before we cross into the square, look up Yesler Way beyond the pergola. See that white tower standing tall on the left side of the street? That’s Smith Tower.

Pause here. Welcome to Pioneer Square! This is the birthplace of modern Seattle, thanks to Henry Yesler. When Yesler arrived in Seattle in 1852, it was little more than a collection of homesteads and Salish homes.

This towering skyscraper to our right is Columbia Center. A building of this size required some totally new construction innovations to keep it safe. Among these were viscoelastic dampers. Hold on, I’ll try that one again in English.

The Rainier Club is on our right. Among Seattle’s sleek, modern buildings, one one doesn’t quite fit in, does it? So what’s the deal? Well, this is home to Seattle’s oldest private club, which was established in 1888. That’s even before Washington became a state!

On the right is an impressive glass and metal building with large diamond patterning. This is none other than the Seattle Public Library. Though this building opened in 2004, this library actually dates back to 1868! Less than two decades after Seattle’s founding, 50 residents gathered to form a library association.

Pause here and look ahead and to the right. Benaroya Hall is home to the Seattle Symphony. The interior hall is actually floating on rubber pads! These isolate it from the outer shell of the building, so most outside noise never reaches the interior. Pretty cool, right?

The museum entrance is actually ahead, at the next intersection. It’s marked by a huge instrallation: a large silhouetted statue with a moving arm. Do you see it? I don’t know how you could miss it! This is Jonathan Borofsky’s Hammering Man, a 49 foot statue built to honor the working class, and hammers for 20 hours a day every single day. In Jonathan’s own words:

It’s hard not to notice the gum covering these walls. This is not some coincidence, but rather an interesting part of Seattle’s history. This unplanned tradition started with visitors to the Market Theater waiting in line for Unexpected Productions’ improv shows.

Pause here, with the big red Public Market sign up ahead. It’s going to get super loud and crowded up there so let me tell you now about what you’ll want to see for sure. One of the most iconic sights you’ll see in Pike Place Market is the fish market, known for its flying fish.