1st Avenue is a major street in Seattle, Washington, United States. It traverses Downtown Seattle, including Pioneer Square and Belltown, as well as the adjacent neighborhoods of SoDo and Lower Queen Anne. Numerous landmarks including parks, museums, and historic buildings are located along the street, including Pike Place Market. The Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed much of it and it had to be rebuilt. Parades have taken place on it before and after the fire. History 1st Avenue is called "Seattle's oldest thoroughfare". Seattle's original street system was a misaligned grid created by three of the original settlers. Today's 1st Avenue was Front Street north of Yesler in Arthur A. Denny's plat, and Commercial Street to its south in Doc Maynard's. The grid persists in the 21st century and 1st Avenue makes two 20-degree bends where it enters and exits the Downtown Seattle core, or Denny's plat. Great Seattle Fire and Underground Seattle 1st Avenue South in Pioneer Square is built over and adjacent to "areaways" comprising Underground Seattle, dating to rebuilding following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. The fire began where the Federal Office Building (Seattle) now stands. Street level was lifted one story in most of Pioneer Square. Rebuilding After the Great Fire, present-day Pioneer Square was rebuilt with fireproof materials including stone and brick, often with iron structural members. Historic buildings from this period on 1st Avenue that remained in the late 20th century include: Pioneer Square pergola (1909) Pioneer Building (1889–90) Mutual Life Building (1892) on the site of Seattle's first community building, Yesler's cookhouse Yesler Building (1890–95) Schwabacher Building (1890) Terry-Denny Building (1889–90) Maynard Building (1892) Lippy Building (1900) The City Club (1906) State Hotel (1890) Grand Central Building (1889) Globe Hotel (1890) Bread of Life Mission (1889) Maud Building (1889) Squire Building (1900) Smith Building (1900) Seattle Quilt Building (1904) Pacific Marine Building (1905) Wax & Raine Building (1904) Seller Building (1906) Hambach Building (1907) Seattle Hardware (1904) Flatiron Building (aka Triangle Hotel and Bar) (1908–10) Just north of Pioneer Square is the 1889 Colman Building. Pike Place Market Pike Place Market (opened 1907), "one of Seattle's most famous cultural and commercial institutions", faces 1st Avenue on its east side, between Pike Street and Virginia Street. Street description SoDo 1st Avenue South is an arterial through the center of the South of Downtown (SoDo) industrial area of Seattle. It is designated as