Denny Hill Regrade Photograph Albums

Begun in 1898 and completed over thirty years later, the Denny Hill Regrade leveled one of Seattle's steepest hills, connecting neighborhoods and facilitating traffic flow. Before the regrade, Second Avenue rose 190 feet in the twelve blocks between Pioneer Square and Lenora Avenue, causing traffic and transportation problems in the area. The project began by flattening First Avenue between Pine Street and Denny Way. The sluiced-away dirt was dumped into Elliott Bay or used as filler on downtown streets. The leveling of the hill continued in 1906 and 1907; homeowners who refused to move had the hill sluiced away around them, leaving their houses on islands of dirt.

In 1928, the remaining portion of the hill was leveled using electric steam shovels; the dirt and debris was carried to scows on Elliott Bay by means of large conveyor belts. By the end of the project in 1931, Denny Hill had been flattened and the Denny Regrade neighborhood was born.

This album compiled by the Engineering Department shows the various stages of the Denny Hill Regrade, and contains 120 6x8 inch prints dating 1904-1929. The images depict the hill being sluiced away by high-powered water cannons as well as views of the regrade area and city from several vantage points. Includes photographs of barges being loaded with dirt and disposing of the debris in Elliott Bay. Also pictured are horse-drawn wagons, earth moving machinery, automobiles, billboards, and the Washington Hotel. Photographs are of First, Second, Third, and Fourth Avenues, and Pine, Battery, Blanchard, Virginia, and Bell Streets. Sixty-one of the images from this album are available online as their negatives are part of series 2613-07. You may view all images of the Denny Regrades by clicking on the link below.