The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, a landmark of
the Pacific Northwest, and an icon of Seattle. It was built in the Seattle Center
for the 1962 World's Fair, which drew over 2.3 million visitors, when nearly
20,000 people a day used its elevators.
Once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River, it is 605 feet high,
138 ft wide, and weighs 9,550 tons. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200
miles per hour and earthquakes of up to 9.1 magnitude, as strong as the 1700
Cascadia earthquake. It also has 25 lightning rods.
It has an observation deck at 520 feet and the rotating Sky City restaurant at
500 feet. The downtown Seattle skyline, as well as the Olympic and Cascade
Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands can be
viewed from the top of the Needle. Photographs of the Seattle skyline often show
the Space Needle prominently, above skyscrapers and Mount Rainier.
Visitors can reach the top of the Space Needle by elevators that travel at 10
miles per hour. The trip takes 41 seconds. On windy days, the elevators slow to 5
miles per hour. On April 19, 1999, the city's Landmarks Preservation Board
designated it a historic landmark.
