Welcome to HistoryLink's Walking Tours
Written by HistoryLink’s network of experts in local history, our easy-to-use self-guided walking tours — now with audio and translation — explore Washington neighborhoods with a nod to the past. Meticulously researched and richly illustrated, each tour is easily accessible via public transit.
Pike Place Market Architecture
If the walls could talk, the stories they would tell
Originally an outdoor market on a recently board-walked side street, the Pike Place Market remained outdoors until 1907, when brothers...
Belltown
An artsy bohemia and the birthplace of Grunge
Since time immemorial a Duwamish village site known as babáqWab existed along the seashore at the cliffside foot of today’s...
Volunteer Park (Seattle)
Luxurious landscapes by John Charles Olmsted
Volunteer Park was designed by John Charles Olmsted, stepson and nephew of Frederick Law Olmsted who is famous for his...
South Lake Union
Where Seattle's past meets its high-tech future
When Seattle was founded in 1851, Lake Union was the backwater of a backwater town. A natural dam at Montlake...
Issaquah
Historical surprises in a bustling Eastside suburb
Native Americans inhabited the Squak Valley for centuries before the first homesteaders arrived in the 1860s. The village they founded...
Pioneer Square
Seattle's first downtown, handsomely preserved
Pioneer Square has long been an important location and center of activity for the residents of this area. The first...
Pike Place Market Eateries
A foodie's walking guide to the Market
The Pike Place Market began at the corner of 1st Avenue and Pike Street on August 17, 1907, when eager...
Central District
Seattle's hub for Black culture and community
Seattle’s Central District (also called the Central Area, or CD) has been a hub for Black business and culture since...
Kenmore
A busy community with a colorful past
Named for a village in Scotland, Kenmore is a community built on the hills and north shoreline of Lake Washington....
Market to MOHAI
The Pike Place Market and the Museum of History and Industry are two landmark institutions in Seattle. Between them lies...
Chinatown-International District
Seattle’s Chinatown-International District (CID) is a unique multicultural neighborhood. Unlike other U.S. cities, the Asian American community in Seattle occupies...
Seattle’s Central Waterfront
Seattle’s waterfront is a place where people have been gathering, trading, and playing for centuries, even as the actual ground...
