While in Washington,we checked out the Space Needle. Beautiful view of Seattle. Then off to the Underground Tour. This story was really interesting. Seattle (originally know as Puget Sound) was built on a tidal plain. It is said that when you went to the bathroom, you had to stand up when the tide came in as it would swoosh the sewer back up the toilet and end up all over you. The sewer from the folks living in the mountainside also travelled down to the town streets and then into the ocean. Only to be washed up again when the tide came in. Seattle was a smelly, dirty town. The term 'Skid Row' came from Seattle. The first toilets were built by a company owned by a man named Crapper. Many crappers were shipped to Seattle. It was advertised as the gateway to the gold mines and many came to Seattle to stay and sell to the wannabe miners. The city decided to raise the streets to escape the sewer problems. Eight foot walls were build on each side of the streets to give a waffle effect. To go shopping, one would walk down the street, climb down the ladder to the store, shop and then carry the goods back up the ladder to the street where the donkey and cart were parked. To cross the street, one would climb up the ladder to the top of the eight ft wall, cross the street and then climb down the ladder on the other side. As coverings were built from street to street, the original stores remained under the new streets. Sewer pipes were made of wood with small passage ways. The great fire burned the downtown Seattle. It was only in the 1970s the Pioneer Square became a Historic Site. Awesome tour.
