Before either grunge or Amazon HQ, there was the Space Needle and the monorail. Join us as we revisit Seattle’s exquisite roadside heritage!
Wednesday, August 18
1:30 – 4:30 pm
SCA Board Meeting, Hotel Ändra
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Opening Reception, Cinerama Theatre
Thursday, August 19
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tour 1: All Aboard for the Future! A Tour of Century 21
Climb aboard the historic Monorail and cruise to the Century 21 Fair Grounds with your special historian conductors. Once at the fairgrounds, we ascend the Space Needle, Seattle’s most iconic landmark. A great gift shop with Century 21 memorabilia awaits us at the bottom. We enjoy lunch at Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project, an amazing tribute to Jimi Hendrix. Then the World’s Fair historian leads us on an insider’s tour of the center – visiting the Federal Science Pavilion of Yamasaki (architect of the World Trade Center), the historic amusement park, public art, and much more. Take the Monorail back downtown for dinner on your own.
8:00 – 10:00 pm
Tour 2: Neon by Moonlight
Drive by the best of Seattle’s Fair-era neon on the fleet of historic buses.
Friday, August 20
8:00 – 9:00 am
Coffee and Muffins, Hotel Ändra
9:00 am – 12:00 noon
Symposium and Paper Session, Hotel Ändra
Keynote address by Walter Crowley, Seattle’s leading historian of the post-War era. Crowley will highlight the ups and downs of the World’s Fair and the good and bad that followed including the Boeing Bust, the Turbulent Sixties, the rise of the computer age and onslaught of the coffeehouse. Mr. Crowley’s books include National Trust Guide to Seattle and Seattle in the Sixties.
12 noon – 1:30 pm
Lunch, SCA Annual Meeting and 5-Minute Stories, Hotel Ändra
1:30 – 3:30 pm
Paper Session continues, Hotel Ändra
4:00 – 6:00 pm
Enjoy one of two walking tours:
Walking Tour 1: Historians lead you through Terra Cotta Seattle, visiting the best architecture of Seattle’s early automobile age including the ornate Fifth Avenue Theatre and Paramount Theatre.
Walking Tour 2: Historians guide you through On the Waterfront, where you will explore Seattle’s rough and tumble past and its trade and tourism present along the waterfront and at Pike Place Market (America’s oldest continuously operating Farmer’s Market).
8:00 – 10:00 pm
Optional Friday Evening Special Event
Ferry boat cruise to Bainbridge Island and back, with Seattle historians narrating the voyage on the region’s water highway.
Saturday, August 21
8:00 am – 6:00 pm
Tour 3: Spending Time on 99
Highway 99 was the expressway to adventure in the pre-Interstate age – north to Canada, out to the forests and mountains or south to golden California. It was the major north-south arterial during the Fair era and its fading motor courts, drive-in restaurants, and roadside culture capture the spirit of an age when the family automobile offered a window to the world. This tour starts at Everett and heads south for Seattle and Tacoma, with two historians of the highway guiding our way, with plenty of stops at favorite roadside attractions along the way including lunch at the legendary Dick’s Drive-In on its 50th birthday.
Check out the full tour guide here!