The Denny Hill regrade that created the flat urban street grid of Belltown was just one highlight in the re-sculpting of Seattle. All in all, 75,036,595 cubic yards of dirt were moved as streets were regraded, ridges flattened, tide flats filled in and waterways dug.
Footage available from the Seattle Municipal Archives provides a window in to the massive engineering effort to regrade Seattle’s landscape.
Read more:
- David B. Williams’ new book, “Too High & Too Steep,” chronicles the massive changes wrought on the city’s landscape in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
- The Seattle Times’ new book, “Seattle Memories,” features historic photos from the late 1800s through 1939.