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Bill Speidel's Underground Tour Collection, 1964-2010

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Bill Speidel's Underground Tour
Title
Bill Speidel's Underground Tour Collection
Dates
1964-2010 (inclusive)
Quantity
Six boxes plus one oversize folder
Collection Number
2015.64 (collection)
Summary
Materials collected by Bill Speidel and subsequent owners about Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, from early conception through the Tour's 40th Anniversary, including correspondence, promotional materials, photographs, and audiovisual materials.
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.
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Biographical Note

Bill Speidel (1912-1988), founder of Seattle’s Underground Tour, was an author, historian, preservationist, entrepreneur, and publisher. In addition to the Underground Tour, Speidel is known for his irreverent books on early Seattle history, and for his work to preserve the historic Pioneer Square neighborhood.

A Seattle native, Speidel attended John Muir Elementary School and Franklin High School, and graduated from the University of Washington in 1936. After graduation, he wrote columns for the Seattle Star and Seattle Times until 1946, when he opened a public relations business with an office in Pioneer Square.

In 1952, Speidel purchased ownership of the entertainment weekly Seattle Guide, and in 1955 he started the Nettle Creek Publishing Company. Nettle Creek published all Speidel’s books - three books on regional dining and three on Seattle history (“Sons of the Profits,” “Doc Maynard: The Man Who Invented Seattle,” and “Through the Eye of the Needle”).

Speidel’s research led him to investigate rumors of buildings and tunnels buried when the levels of some downtown streets were raised after the 1889 Great Seattle Fire. With the help of volunteers, he explored and began to clear out this “underground city,” and sparked public interest for the endeavor with a 1963 article in the Seattle Times. In August 1964, Speidel held the first public tour for about 500 curious customers, each donating one dollar. The Seattle Underground Tour became an official business in 1965, with scheduled tours led by local college students hired as guides.

Bill Speidel was also a passionate preservationist who worked to improve conditions in Pioneer Square and save its deteriorating historic buildings from demolition. Speidel worked with other local preservationists to save the neighborhood from planners proposing to completely rebuild the Pioneer Square neighborhood. In 1970, the group succeeded in having the neighborhood added to the National Register of Historic Places. The same year, Pioneer Square officially became a City Preservation District, which led to the restoration of several historical buildings.

After Bill Speidel’s death in 1988, his daughter Sunny Speidel took over leadership of the Underground Tour. As of 2024, guides at Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour continue to provide guided walking tours several times each day.

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Content Description

The collection consists largely of materials related Bill Speidel's Underground Tour, but also includes some materials about other Bill Speidel Enterprises businesses, including the Seattle Guide, and Doc Maynard's Public House, as well as papers and clippings related to the Pioneer Square neighborhood. Materials about the Underground Tour include notes and plans from 1964-65 about the inception of the tour; correspondence; photographs of Underground Tour spaces, staff, and tour participants; events at Doc Maynard's Public House; and ephemera such as schedules and tickets, promotional materials, invitations, and Underground Tour Valentine cards.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Bill Speidel's Underground Tour Collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Arranged in 7 series:

  • Underground Tour papers
  • Bill Speidel Enterprises papers
  • Miscellaneous paper
  • Slides
  • Photographs
  • Audiovisual materials
  • Newspaper clippings

Location of Collection

15.4.8; 25.3.3; 12b.3.4

Acquisition Information

The collection was donated by Sunny Speidel in 2015.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Finding aid prepared by Jody Hendrickson
2024

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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