Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (Seattle Unit)

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (Seattle Unit) - BEST Places to Picnic

319 Second Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98104

Phone
Visitor Information
(206) 220-4240

WELCOME to Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (Seattle Unit)

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is a National Historical Park commemorating the Klondike Gold Rush of the late 1890s. The gold rush was in the Yukon Territory, and this park comprises staging areas for the trek there, and routes leading in its direction. The park consists of four units: three in the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska and a fourth in the Pioneer Square National Historic District in Seattle, Washington.

Seattle Unit

An integral part of the park is the Visitor's Center in Seattle, Washington, in the Pioneer Square National Historic District. It functions as an interpretive center and museum, and also has information on how to visit the Skagway unit of the park. It opened June 2, 1979, and was located in the Union Trust Annex (built 1902), across Main Street from Occidental Park.

The Seattle unit is now located in an 1889 building, the Cadillac Hotel at 319 Second Avenue South. The Cadillac Hotel building was a major point of outfitting and departure during the gold rush stampede. Severely damaged in the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, it was rehabilitated 2004–2005 as home to the Seattle Unit of the park, and was opened and dedicated 26 June 2006.

The visitor center in Seattle is located on the northwest corner of Jackson Street and Second Avenue South. It is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

The Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park Visitor Center offers visitors a chance to step back in time and journey to the Yukon gold fields of Canada as thousands did in 1897 and 1898. Interactive exhibits highlight Seattle's role in this international event. Touch screen computers allow visitors to experience the gold rush through the eyes of actual stampeders by referring to their journals and personal accounts.

The Park is free and presently open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Starting in 2009, the visitor center will be closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day and operating on winter hours from January 2, 2009 through March 8, 2009.

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