ELVIS PRESLEY’S HIDDEN SEATTLE TRAIL: THE STADIUMS, HOTEL ROOM AND MOVIE SCENE THAT STILL SURVIVE
More than 45 years after Elvis Presley’s final days, parts of his Seattle story are still hiding in plain sight.
When people think about Elvis Presley, they usually picture Graceland, Las Vegas, Memphis, Hollywood, or the legendary stages where he performed before enormous crowds. But there is another side of Elvis history that is much easier to miss — the places he visited only briefly, performed once or twice, stayed overnight, and then left behind.
Seattle, Washington, is one of those places.
Today, many people walking through downtown Seattle may have absolutely no idea that Elvis once stood on these streets, performed before thousands of fans, stayed in a hotel that still exists, and appeared in a movie whose filming locations remain connected to the city.
And the most surprising part?
Some of those landmarks are still standing. Others are completely gone. But the Elvis story can still be traced.
In 1970, Elvis performed at what was then known as the Seattle Coliseum, a venue that has since become associated with today’s Climate Pledge Arena. On November 12, 1970, he performed before a crowd of roughly 15,000 people.
But that wasn’t his only Seattle performance.
Elvis returned to the city in April 1973, appearing at the former Seattle Center Arena on April 29 for two shows. The arena itself had a fascinating history long before Elvis arrived. Built in 1927, it had served different purposes over the decades, including exposition-related activities, ice skating, and eventually concerts.
By the time Elvis arrived in 1973, the building had become another stop on his touring schedule.
The strange thing is that the building is gone now.
A fan visiting Seattle today cannot simply walk inside and stand where Elvis performed in 1973. The arena disappeared, replaced by a completely different landscape. Yet the location remains part of the city’s Elvis map.
And just a short distance away is another major piece of the story.
In 1976, Elvis returned to Seattle and performed once again at the Coliseum, by then continuing a touring career that had become increasingly demanding. The contrast is fascinating: the same city, the same general area, but Elvis was now a very different performer from the young man who had exploded onto the national scene two decades earlier.
Then there is the hotel.
During his 1976 visit, Elvis stayed at what was then known as the Washington Plaza Hotel. The building still exists today as part of the Westin complex, although the property has changed considerably over the years. The original tower where Elvis stayed was built in 1969, while another tower was added later.
That means visitors can still stand outside a building connected to Elvis’s 1976 Seattle visit.
But Seattle’s connection to Elvis goes back even further.
On September 1, 1957, Elvis performed at Sicks’ Stadium, a baseball stadium, before approximately 16,000 people. After the performance, he stayed at what was then the Olympic Hotel, today associated with the Fairmont Olympic.
Think about that for a moment.
A young Elvis Presley — only 22 years old — arrived in Seattle at the height of his first wave of fame. He had already become a national sensation, and thousands of screaming fans came to see him perform.
Then, after the concert, he disappeared into a historic Seattle hotel.
Today, that building remains.
The stadium where he performed, however, is another story.
It is gone.
That is what makes following Elvis’s Seattle trail so fascinating. Some locations survived almost unchanged, some were dramatically renovated, and others vanished completely. Yet each one preserves a small piece of the King’s journey.
And then comes perhaps the most unexpected connection of all: Elvis’s movie history.
Seattle was used as a filming location for the 1962 movie It Happened at the World’s Fair. Unlike many Elvis films that relied heavily on Hollywood locations and studio sets, this production brought Elvis to Seattle during the World’s Fair era.
One of the movie’s most memorable moments involved a young Kurt Russell appearing on screen and kicking Elvis in the shin.
That brief moment became part of Elvis movie folklore.
Today, the area around the Space Needle has changed dramatically. A restaurant associated with the location seen in the movie is no longer there. Renovations have transformed the Space Needle, including the addition of its famous rotating glass-floor experience.
Yet from high above Seattle, visitors can still look toward the area where scenes from the film were created.
It creates a strange connection between two different versions of Elvis Presley.
One was the young movie star of 1962, filming in Seattle during the World’s Fair.
The other was the veteran performer returning to Seattle in the 1970s, stepping onto enormous stages before thousands of fans.
Same city. Same legend. Two completely different eras of Elvis Presley.
And perhaps that’s the real surprise hidden in Seattle.
You don’t need to find Graceland to find Elvis.
Sometimes his history is underneath a modern arena.
Sometimes it’s inside the walls of an old hotel.
Sometimes the building has disappeared completely.
And sometimes, if you know exactly where to look, you can stand above the city and realize that a scene from an Elvis movie happened almost exactly where you are standing.
Elvis was only passing through Seattle.
But decades later, the city still carries the fingerprints of those visits.
The crowds are gone. The arenas have changed. Some buildings have disappeared.
But the King was here — and Seattle still remembers.
