Smith Tower

Smith Tower at 506 2nd Ave in Pioneer Square, Seattle, Washington, was finished in 1914 as a 38-story, 462-foot office tower and was the tallest building on the West Coast for nearly half a century. It was financed by Lyman Cornelius Smith, the Syracuse, New York, firearms and typewriter manufacturer, and designed by the architects Gaggin and Gaggin in a classical style, with a white terra-cotta skin and a stepped pyramid roof. Early in the century it held the title of tallest building outside New York City, and its construction signaled the confidence of a city that had been rebuilt after the fire of 1889 and enriched by the Klondike Gold Rush. Several original features survive, including the manually operated Otis elevators with brass and bronze fittings, which are among the last of their kind in the United States. A staff elevator operator still takes visitors up to the Observatory on the 35th floor. There, the Chinese Room has a carved blackwood ceiling and furniture, which is traditionally said to have been a gift from the Empress Dowager of China, though the story is probably embroidered. An outdoor wraparound deck gives views over Elliott Bay, Pioneer Square, the stadiums, Mount Rainier and the Olympic Mountains. A bar called Temple Bar occupies the observatory level, and interpretive panels recount the tower's construction, its owners and the lives of tenants. The building has been renovated several times, most recently in the 2010s, when the restored lobby with its onyx walls and a ceiling of Mexican onyx was reopened to the public and the upper floors were opened for visitors. Smith Tower is a designated Seattle landmark and appears on the National Register of Historic Places, and its sensitive restoration has retained details such as ornamental ironwork, mailboxes with brass chutes and tile floors. Visits are typically self-guided once visitors have ridden the elevator, and the observatory is a good place for orientation before exploring the surrounding historic district.