The skyline of Seattle is interesting; today most of the tall buildings are from the last fifty years and can be seen in one long line from Puget Sound.

But to the south, sitting off by itself is the Smith Tower, built in 1914, in the Pioneer Square neighborhood.

Designed by the firm of T. Walter Gaggin and Edwin Hall Gaggin, the skyscraper consists of a U-shaped based with a multi-story tower. There is an observation deck outside of a large room decorated with Chinese lacquerware.

The tower is largely invisible from the ground.

There is a massive terracotta cornice, which luckily was never shorn off the building, delineating the break between the two portions of the skyscraper.

The arch between the top floors is a nice touch.

Amazingly, there is an apartment in the pyramid roof that is still inhabited today.

Here is the elevator lobby; for some reason back in August of 2012 I posted a photo of myself that the elevator operator took of me.