The bustling city of Seattle, situated on Elliot Bay had a great location, but truth be told, the downtown area was prone to flooding. And with the introduction of toilets – which used gravity as part of the ‘processing' system – sewage was becoming a big problem in the lower lying areas of town. But on June 6, 1889, the Great Seattle Fire struck, and the city had bigger problems to deal with.

The stone buildings around Pioneer Square survived the fire, but when rebuilding began, city leaders decided to raise street levels so that the flooding and sewage problems could be corrected. And so stairways were built from the new higher streets down to the old street level, so shoppers could have access to shop entrances that were now underground.

At first, the sidewalks, which were so much lower than the streets were incredibly dangerous, with carriages, people and horses often falling down onto them. Eventually a new set of sidewalks at the higher street level was built and the lower walkways were fully enclosed and lit by ‘windows' in the sidewalks above. In preparation for the World's Fair in 1909, the Underground was closed off in 1907. But it was a perfect place for illegal activities, which thrived below the streets.

Girlawhirl learned more about the history of Seattle, its founding fathers and how the area around Pioneer Square has a whole world beneath it by taking the Seattle Underground Tour.