Seattle Underground
The Seattle Underground is the name given to the underground passages and cellars in downtown Seattle that were created when streets and sidewalks were raised in 1900. They were unused for a long time, but have become a tourist attraction in the past few decades.
history
Seattle is located directly on Elliot Bay and therefore at sea level , which is why it was often inundated during floods . The sewage system with water flushing introduced in 1881 was only functional when the water level was low , and the toilets would flush backwards when the water level was high.
The business district in the city center with its wooden houses, the so-called Business District , burned down completely in the Great Fire of Seattle on June 6, 1889. The city then banned wooden buildings and decided to "lift" parts of the city to solve the problems. For this purpose, the steep banks towards the Puget Sound were removed. The streets were filled with the overburden, giving them a more even slope.
Since this field work was only progressing slowly, the new buildings were erected starting from the old street level. The later raising of the streets by up to ten meters resulted in an extremely dangerous difference in height between the street and the sidewalk , which is why the sidewalks at the new street level were covered over time and the house entrances were moved to higher, now “ground-level” floors. The former ground floors became cellars.
gallery
An old bank
An old meat market
