VOLUNTEER PARK WATER TOWER

 

The Tower in Seattle's Volunteer Park was built as a water reservoir in 1906.   We climbed the 180 steps (!) to the observation deck which put us at the highest point on the City's beautiful Capitol Hill.

 
 

Placards on the brick walls tell the history of Volunteer Park.  (We learned that it was named as a tribute to Seattle's volunteers in the Spanish-American War, which was not at all what we'd first assumed.)   Other signs pay tribute to the Olmstead Brothers who designed the Park's Gardens and lawns. (They designed Central Park and the Biltmore Mansion among other places.)  

A walk around the circular deck gave us a 360 degree view of beautiful Seattle.

    

 

From one window we saw the Space Needle and Puget Sound beyond it.  

Of course you could see the whole City from the top of the Space Needle too.  But it would cost you — at the very least an expensive meal.  The Water Tower is free and not as touristy.  

We felt like locals because I think everybody else up there was. There was even a small group of four-year-old girls celebrating a Princess birthday in the magic tower!  And of course their mothers (also in costume) were even having more fun.  

We were lucky to have a very knowledgeable local guide in our brother-in-law, otherwise we'd never have known about this great spot.

   

  

The window fences are quite an elegant way to keep people safe.   And of course looking through them is the actual way our eyes saw the views.  Sometimes I shot what we saw.

And sometimes I poked the camera lens through the big spaces above the window fences and just shot away.   

 

Below a couple of views of Emerald City green:

 

 

 

 There is a lot to see in beautiful Volunteer Park and I hope we can go back on our next visit to Seattle.  (The Arboretum where we saw the beautiful orchids and the stinky corpse plant (HERE) is also in this park.)

 Sharing these views of beautiful Seattle with OUR WORLD TUESDAY and GOOD FENCES.

 Thanks to Lady Fi, Arija, Sandy, Sylvia, Gattina, and Jenn for hosting OWT and to Theresa for GF.

 

 Seattle Park's  page about the tower is HERE.