The Seattle regrade
Moving mountains to build a city
Alex Q. Arbuckle
1905-1930
The instincts of the pioneer led them aright. Although not without its difficulties, the situation of Seattle is unique among the cities of the world. - Arthur H. Dimock, 1926
At the beginning of the 20th century, Seattle, Washington was rapidly becoming a major hub of trade in the Pacific Northwest. Situated on a narrow, hilly isthmus, the city needed to grow in an organized way.Following a fire which razed much of the downtown area, City Engineer R.H. Thomson took the opportunity to spearhead a wide-ranging effort to tame the terrain around the city and prepare it for a century of growth.Canals were dug, rivers were diverted and mountains were moved.In particular, the glacial hills and ridges which separated neighborhoods from the downtown waterfront were deemed a major impediment to travel and commerce, and a prime target for removal.From the 1890s through the 1920s, more than 50 million cubic yards of earth were scraped away with pick axes, water cannons, steam shovels and conveyor belts. Much of the displaced earth was used for filling in tidal flats on the waterfront.
The “regrading” of the terrain was a boon for some. Downtown residential real estate value was estimated to have increased 1,000% in two years. The owner of the hilltop Denny Hotel (later called the Washington Hotel) was so optimistic about the increase in land value that he tore down the hotel himself.A popular myth held that some land owners refused to yield their property to the city. While negotiations proceeded, engineers were forced to continue the regrading around them. These untouched properties, looming dozens of feet above flattened plains of dirt, came to be called “spite mounds.” In fact, there is no evidence that any of the owners of these mounds were opposed to the regrade. James Kelley, owner of several of the mounds, supported the regrade, but was late to lower his properties because he was out of town when contracting began.When regrading finally ceased with the onset of the Great Depression, the shape of the city had been radically changed.But the ghost of the old city remains — underground. Some of the Victorian ground level streets remain as a subterranean network of tunnels and passageways beneath the sidewalk.
When God set Paul Bunyan to work making the Puget Sound country, He doubtless had the new Queen City of the West in mind. - Read Bain, 1928
Gradients were determined formerly by considering the load a team of horses could pull, and those pavements were selected which afforded the best footing. The motor vehicle has made old theories seem very ancient indeed. - Arthur H. Dimock, 1926
The largest and boldest municipal regrade project in history - O. A. Piper, c. 1910
No great city on the American continent has overcome so many natural obstacles encountered in its growth. - Clarence Bagley, 1916
Many of the houses that were to be removed from the hill did not have to be torn down. They were simply undermined by a stream of water, and when they tumbled into the hole they were set on fire. - V. V. Tarbill, 1930
