Philadelphia was also graded. I think most cities, at least those that had variable topography, were. Though some of it was less dramatic than that done in Seattle, it was nonetheless impressive.
The historian for the Philadelphia Water Department, Adam Levine, gives a wonderful lecture about the process. As I recall it features a picture of a house in Seattle sitting on a dirt pile 20-30 feet tall, the surrounding soil having been removed as part of the leveling process.
Levine described the process in Philadelphia that left streets laid out in an elevated grid in some areas that looked much like a waffle, with the newly graded streets being the ridges and the below grade properties being the pockets. Only instead of trapping delicious maple syrup, they filled with fetid water, horse carcasses, and whatever else accumulated until the property owners filled to grade—typically by hand with wheel barrows.
Similarly sewers were laid as deep and at the grades the engineers demanded, with “chimneys” leading to manholes often sticking up in the air one or two stories until the streets and surrounding land were filled in. Some of those are still visible in places that were never filled.
An ancient horrific disease, leprosy, hit Hawai’i in the 1830s from the large influx of imported labor from Asia, became problematic enough in the 1860s that patients were arrested and forced into isolation. It wasn’t until 1873 that Dr Hansen in Norway determined it was a bacterial disease (not a racial ‘punishment from God’) with a long incubation period that could be years. Even great efforts did not result in a cure until 1941!
The Seattle anti Chinese riot of 1881 was on the surface a labor dispute, but the fundamental fear of foreign disease also fueled the vitriolic hate. After all, Seattleites knew the ghastly history that our own imported diseases had had on the First Nations here.
We saw a revolting regression to these same blanket attitudes in early 2020 when COVID swept into Seattle from China.
Bacteria continue to become resistant to drugs; viruses will continue to mutate. With modern commerce and vast international travel, it behooves everyone to consistently support cooperative science and get real facts about the challenges in the future. Nobody wants to believe they are dangerously infectious. How inconvenient.
Quarantines (40 days on an island) were invented in Venice in the middle ages (Black Death plagues from ships’ fleas). They were the supreme import location of that time. Like us.
Why was Italy hit so hard with COVID? Why does Germany have a much higher rate of long-COVID than the US? They just announced a substantial research initiative while our poser clowns are shutting down research. It’s crazy.
Ghastly diseases fuel fear of ‘others’ from time immemorial: smallpox, Ebola, monkey pox, etc. Who knows what’s thawing and reanimating out of the permafrost now? Are we even looking very hard?
You may be able to prove that the street has a different topography than the alley! SPU Records Vault (https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/construction-resources/records-vault) recently found a trove of Alley profiles that we digitized and published. They're all locatable via the Map Search function in our digital repository, Seattle Digital Infrastructure Records.
Thanks kindly. And, for those who aren't aware of the SPU Records Vault, it is a treasure trove of amazing information about the city's infrastructure.
I’ve assumed they dug down until they hit gravel, a good material for a road, and piled the softer organic material to either side, creating platforms people later built on.
I've wondered a similar thing as I've walked along Rainier Valley. Particularly the area north of Columbia City. There seem to be a lot of home lots at valley level, but with deep adjacent depressions. I've always thought those were indications of a valley 'regrade', but if so why would some areas remain unfilled?
Somewhat related, I find it amusing that there are some streets where the houses are perched on high and the sidewalk is cut midway along the hill below the homes. The street itself is more than 10 feet below the sidewalk. Maybe not the best example, but take a look at the stretch on 37th Ave S north of S Dakota St. These houses have a very nice alley to make up for the physically challenging street access!
37th Ave S and Renton Ave S between S Brandon St and S Dawson St are also an interesting study in LCRR, particularly the sidewalk in the west side of 37th. In this case, the street was left high going up Hitt's Hill, but the sidewalk is low, leaving the houses facing onto 37th (where their addresses are) looking into the side of the hill. Folks there access their homes from the Renton side. It results in a really beautiful walking path of gardens that feel like secret, private areas.
Our human regrading has been minor compared to the mighty glaciers.
Philadelphia was also graded. I think most cities, at least those that had variable topography, were. Though some of it was less dramatic than that done in Seattle, it was nonetheless impressive.
The historian for the Philadelphia Water Department, Adam Levine, gives a wonderful lecture about the process. As I recall it features a picture of a house in Seattle sitting on a dirt pile 20-30 feet tall, the surrounding soil having been removed as part of the leveling process.
Levine described the process in Philadelphia that left streets laid out in an elevated grid in some areas that looked much like a waffle, with the newly graded streets being the ridges and the below grade properties being the pockets. Only instead of trapping delicious maple syrup, they filled with fetid water, horse carcasses, and whatever else accumulated until the property owners filled to grade—typically by hand with wheel barrows.
Similarly sewers were laid as deep and at the grades the engineers demanded, with “chimneys” leading to manholes often sticking up in the air one or two stories until the streets and surrounding land were filled in. Some of those are still visible in places that were never filled.
Here is a link to a short video about the topic. https://waterhistoryphl.org/items/the-waffle-water-history-video-6/
David, nutty about the chimneys and manholes (or personholes in the PC world!) and fetid water. Thanks for sharing. David
"...throughout the process, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer regularly printed racist rants, which I won’t repeat, condemning Chinese workers..."
I'm not surprised. West Coast white folks hated the Chinese more than they did each other, which is saying something for that time.
Sadly yes. Racism, particularly against Chinese people, was particularly horrible and rampant back then.
An ancient horrific disease, leprosy, hit Hawai’i in the 1830s from the large influx of imported labor from Asia, became problematic enough in the 1860s that patients were arrested and forced into isolation. It wasn’t until 1873 that Dr Hansen in Norway determined it was a bacterial disease (not a racial ‘punishment from God’) with a long incubation period that could be years. Even great efforts did not result in a cure until 1941!
The Seattle anti Chinese riot of 1881 was on the surface a labor dispute, but the fundamental fear of foreign disease also fueled the vitriolic hate. After all, Seattleites knew the ghastly history that our own imported diseases had had on the First Nations here.
We saw a revolting regression to these same blanket attitudes in early 2020 when COVID swept into Seattle from China.
Bacteria continue to become resistant to drugs; viruses will continue to mutate. With modern commerce and vast international travel, it behooves everyone to consistently support cooperative science and get real facts about the challenges in the future. Nobody wants to believe they are dangerously infectious. How inconvenient.
Quarantines (40 days on an island) were invented in Venice in the middle ages (Black Death plagues from ships’ fleas). They were the supreme import location of that time. Like us.
Why was Italy hit so hard with COVID? Why does Germany have a much higher rate of long-COVID than the US? They just announced a substantial research initiative while our poser clowns are shutting down research. It’s crazy.
Ghastly diseases fuel fear of ‘others’ from time immemorial: smallpox, Ebola, monkey pox, etc. Who knows what’s thawing and reanimating out of the permafrost now? Are we even looking very hard?
You may be able to prove that the street has a different topography than the alley! SPU Records Vault (https://www.seattle.gov/utilities/construction-resources/records-vault) recently found a trove of Alley profiles that we digitized and published. They're all locatable via the Map Search function in our digital repository, Seattle Digital Infrastructure Records.
Thanks kindly. And, for those who aren't aware of the SPU Records Vault, it is a treasure trove of amazing information about the city's infrastructure.
Top grade piece!
I’ve assumed they dug down until they hit gravel, a good material for a road, and piled the softer organic material to either side, creating platforms people later built on.
Sounds logical to me!
I've wondered a similar thing as I've walked along Rainier Valley. Particularly the area north of Columbia City. There seem to be a lot of home lots at valley level, but with deep adjacent depressions. I've always thought those were indications of a valley 'regrade', but if so why would some areas remain unfilled?
Somewhat related, I find it amusing that there are some streets where the houses are perched on high and the sidewalk is cut midway along the hill below the homes. The street itself is more than 10 feet below the sidewalk. Maybe not the best example, but take a look at the stretch on 37th Ave S north of S Dakota St. These houses have a very nice alley to make up for the physically challenging street access!
Nutty the way we do/did things. I'll have to look at those next time I get down that away.
37th Ave S and Renton Ave S between S Brandon St and S Dawson St are also an interesting study in LCRR, particularly the sidewalk in the west side of 37th. In this case, the street was left high going up Hitt's Hill, but the sidewalk is low, leaving the houses facing onto 37th (where their addresses are) looking into the side of the hill. Folks there access their homes from the Renton side. It results in a really beautiful walking path of gardens that feel like secret, private areas.
Yeah, always intrigued by sidewalks at different levels on streets. What was going on there? Nutty.
As a newcomer to the area, I’ve often wondered why so many houses are raised above the street. Thank you for the answer!!
As noted, I could be wrong but this seems logical.