Last month I traveled to beautiful Seattle, Washington. Seattle offers incredible scenery, iconic tourist attractions plus…historic cobblestone streets!
The weather in May was dazzling with puffy white clouds floating against a bright blue sky, cool breezes and warm sun. Did it rain? Yes, its Seattle, but it was very intermittent – nothing a rain jacket couldn’t handle. The agenda included classic sites of this vibrant city; the Space Needle, museums, the waterfront and hiking ‘Rattle Snake Ridge’ in the beautiful mountains a mere 30 minutes away. I also learned how locals travel via ferry rides as I boated to nearby Bainbridge Island to visit a clients home who had purchased antique Historic Sidewalk Cobble for their new driveway. The old historic downtown area called Pioneer Square and the public market known as Pikes Place, offered some of the best food, entertainment and lucky for me, old cobblestone streets!
Pikes Place Market (image top) is a fun and busy mecca for tourists. Lots of shops, great food and entertainment – watch the old fish mongers toss a giant fish back and forth, have coffee at the original Starbucks, and much more. What caught me eye were the cobblestone streets that lead to the market and greet every visitor to this gigantic international gathering place.
Pioneer Square (image below) was established in 1852. Did you know that Mr. Nordstrom and Eddie Bauer got their start selling shoes and clothing here? Rebuilt after the devastating “Great Fire” of 1889, the district is characterized by brick and stone buildings and one of the nation’s best surviving collections of Romanesque Revival style urban architecture …..and cobblestone streets!
A local writer, David B. Williams has an interesting blog on Seattles history and geology. Williams says that most cobbles date back to the 1890s and 1910s. The commonly used varieties of cobblestone came from a sandstone quarry in Wilkeson, a small town about 45 miles south of Seattle. Workers could easily cut the brick-sized blocks and the stone cobbles lasted longer and created less of a mess than the mud or wood of the past. The other stone used for cobblestones was a local granite.
Seattle was a wonderful experience and 4 days were barely enough time to appreciate all it has to offer, including the charming historic cobblestone streets. I look forward to returning soon! For more on the topic of historic cobblestone streets, read my blog post series: “Cobblestone Streets” in the U.S.A.!
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