Should anybody be interested in why I went to Seattle this summer, please read here.

It is hard to grasp how it all looked from the start as the city was regraded over thirty years’ period ending in the 1930s. To get an idea about it, please have a look at the search images on the subject. Because of the significant increase of inhabitants, a colossal work was later done on regrading of Denny Hill.  You still have to climb many steps from the sea level to Western Avenue and First Avenue.

Our Ace Hostel at First Avenue and Wall Street. The harbour is down below the steep street.

The steep way down to the harbour from First Avenue and University Street

To find out more about it, you can take a guided tour at the two ground tours available at Pioneer Square. Hans Pederson has for sure had a part in this vast work. Unfortunately, we couldn’t trace any testimony about it during our week in Seattle.

The Rainier Club

The Rainier Club from1904, registred as a historical place by Department of the Interior.

The Rainier Club from1904, registred as a historical place by Department of the Interior.

The Rainier Club from1904, registred as a historical place by Department of the Interior.

The Rainier Club built in 1904

The YMCA downtown Seattle building from 1930 situated opposite the Rainier Club on 4th Avenue and Columbia Street

The Seattle Downtown YMCA building from 1930 on Marion Street between 4th and 5th Avenue

Inscription on the wall of the Seattle YMCA building

Inscription on the wall of the Seattle YMCA building

The arch way entrance of the Seattle YMCA building

Federal Office Building at the site where the great 1889 fire started

Federal Station at 2nd Avenue and Madison St.

The entrance of the former post office Federal Station at 2nd Avenue and Madison St.

Federal Station at 2nd Avenue and Madison St. A registered historic place

Federal Station at 2nd Avenue and Madison St. A registered historical place where the great fire started in 1889

Red Building with white top. If any of you could identify the building that would be fine. Thank you to blogger Wedgwood in Seattle for your help in identifying this building:

 The red brick building with the “snowy” top (terra cotta) is meant to look like a snow-topped mountain. It is the old Federal Building, the same one which contains a post office and has a plaque on the front, at First & Madison Street, marking the place where the Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889, began. In your second photo of the old Federal Building, looking straight west, we see the new Federal Building at right — looking west from Second & Marion Street. 

A significant building in red tile and decorated on the top on 1st Avenue and Marion Street

The same red tile and decorated on the top on 1st Avenue seen from a top-level

Kings County Courthouse Paula Pederson’s father Hans Pederson was the contractor on this building from 1916 with added six floors in 1930

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Richardsonian Romanesque stone, red brick terra cotta and cast iron Pioneer Building at Pioneer Square. Completed in 1892 after the great fire in 1989. Designed by Elmer Fisher.

The Pioneer Building at Pioneer Square in the basement housing the Underground Tour

The Exchange Building in Art Deco style from 1930 at 2nd Avenue and Marion Street. The building is huge. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of it. The Exchange is an architectural icon located in Seattle’s thriving downtown. Within walking distance from Pioneer Square, Pike’s Place Market.

Art deco decoration at the art Deco Exchange Building in Seattle at 2nd Avenue and Marion Street

The arch entrance at the art Deco Exchange Building in Seattle at 2nd Avenue and Marion Street

Buildings at 2nd Avenue

A Greek-inspired building on 2nd Avenue Seattle tucked in between newer buildings

New buildings and old ones in a mixture on 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street

The Dexter Horton Building by architect John Graham from England at 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street

The Alaska Building from 1904 now the Courtyard Hotel/ Broderick Building at 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street. Smith Tower to the right. Queen Anne Romanesque style from 1892

We in Europe don’t have buildings like those above

We chose a hostel close to where my father’s uncle Valdemar had spent his adult life. Fortunately, the facade is preserved from the historic building first used as an indoor swimming pool and changed into the Evangelical church where Valdemar worked as a janitor until he died. I was pleased to find out that the building since 2015 is housing a museum on Jewish children who survived the Holocaust. Holocaust Center for Humanity

My father’s cousin AM and me at the place where Valdemar lived until he died in 1964

The Crystal Pool built1915. Bought by Bethel Church in the 1940s

The new building and the facade left from the original Crystal Pool Building at 2nd Avenue and Lenora St.

The new building and the facade left from the original Crystal Pool Building at 2nd Avenue and Lenora St.

The new building and the facade left from the original Crystal Pool Building at 2nd Avenue and Lenora St.

The new building and the facade left from the original Crystal Pool Building at 2nd Avenue and Lenora St.

Detail of the facade from the Crystal Pool

A collection of photos of the new and old building that used to be a swimming pool, an ice rink, a boxing centre and the Bethel Church where Valdemar, our Danish uncle lived and worked in the 1940’s -1964. Now a Holocaust Centre for surviving children.

Pike Place Market

View over Pike Place Market at the harbour in Seattle

Inside the Pike Place Market at the harbour in Seattle

Flowers inside the Pike Place Market in Seattle. Flowers are available every day

Inside the Pike Place Market at the harbour in Seattle