South Seattle and its neighboring communities hide some genuinely unexpected layers of history and character. Here are a few things worth knowing:

• Georgetown's brewing legacy predates Prohibition: Georgetown was home to the Rainier Brewing Company long before it merged into Seattle proper, and the neighborhood's industrial corridor still contains century-old brick buildings that once supported one of the West Coast's largest brewing operations.

• Columbia City was its own city first: Before annexation by Seattle in 1907, Columbia City operated as an independent municipality with its own mayor and city government — one of several small cities Seattle absorbed during its early growth boom.

• South Park sits on a floodplain Seattle almost gave up on: The neighborhood floods regularly from the Duwamish River, and a 2010 bridge closure left residents with severely limited access for over two years — making it one of the few urban neighborhoods in a major U.S. city to lose its only direct road connection to downtown for an extended period.

• Beacon Hill conceals a wartime tunnel: During World War II, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bored a massive tunnel beneath Beacon Hill to protect Seattle's water supply infrastructure from potential attack — that tunnel still functions as part of the city's water system today.

• SeaTac is one of America's youngest cities: The city of SeaTac only incorporated in 1990, meaning it is younger than many of the teenagers currently passing through its internationally recognized airport.