Seattle Moves a Mountain: The Story of the Denny Regrade, c. 1930 - 1970

[@chasgotthespins6124]

I love these historical films, thank you for uploading these.

[@tackyman2011]

This is fascinating. Those barges are ingenious.

[@MartsGarage]

That was very interesting. Thanks for making this footage available.

[@tudorjason]

I don't think I've seen pictures of the city before regrading started. The Denny Hill was big!

[@cme98]

Dude, anywhere east of the Rockies that hill would be called a mountain. What we call hills they call mountains, what we call mountains they cant grasp. They never saw anything 14,000 feet tall or 8,000 feet tall. You cant imagine what you know nothing of.😅

[@catherinehansel]

Sad that so many historic buildings had to be destroyed during this project. Even Seattle's first park! It almost seems like it was more of a hassle to remove Denny Hill than it would have been to keep it... but who knows!

[@1HorseOpenSlay]

How did they build that hotel on the top of denny hill if there were no roads going to it? It is very grand.

[@tristankline6676]

Very cool to finally get a sense of the history of a place I've called home.

[@1HorseOpenSlay]

I just need to say, this is some of the best footage I've ever seen

[@MikeLempriere]

Wonderful historic of old Seattle! (Audio is so quiet I had to turn on closed captioning.)

[@charlesmcintyre1081]

This area of this regrade contains some of the most unsightly streets in Seattle. A case of man trying to tame nature, and he ends up neutering the beauty of the natural world. The video explains clearly that the motivation to regrade Denny Hill was financial in origin.

[@HungryH1951]

You got that right. Instead of resembling San Francisco with it's hills and buildings we got the mess we have now. It's nearly if not criminal what these businessmen did to Seattle.

[@DanPackard]

Truly tragic how such natural beauty was mowed down and carved away. The wonderful old Washington hotel and other genteel buildings, and a spacious city park with tremendous views, obliterated and flattened. The majority of that area was turned into flat parking lots, some which still exist today, nearly 100 years later! It was an engineering marvel, but an expensive environmental and political tragedy.

[@Tony-so1zl]

@@HungryH1951these hills were worse than SF. Needed to be done to make the city we have today

[@Dickfuckgoogle]

@Tony-so1zl *Slum. The word you're looking for is slum.

[@wrhytz]

It began during the gold rush: "There's nuggets under Belltown Hill..."

[@MrWolfTickets]

10:35 Woah, those electric shovels weren't Diesel Electric- but actually plugged in!!!

[@tombirkland]

Similar to the big drag line diggers at open pit coal mines. They are amazing machines.

[@thomasthompson6378]

I haven't (yet) watched a single frame of this, but I do hope they'll show that, when Denny Hill was "regraded," it totally destroyed one of the largest and newest hotels in the city, as well as everything else on the Hill.

[@RealLifeFinance]

Seems very strange

[@hebneh]

I don't understand what happened to the private property there. It's implied that people somehow retained ownership even after the original contours of their land were completely removed. How did they translate former boundaries to the newly-flattened area?

[@GnomeChomsky9999]

I think maps are flat.

[@markpreston6930]

@@GnomeChomsky9999 A elevating boundary would be longer than a flat boundary you fool.

[@thomasthompson6378]

They used the power of eminent domain to condemn the property. They "compensated" the owners, but the owners had no say whatsoever in how much that compensation would be.

[@hebneh]

@@thomasthompson6378 That's what I assumed would have happened, but the narrator twice said that the landowners had petitioned to have the hill removed. If their property was then lost via condemnation, why would they want this to occur?

[@SJR_Media_Group]

Even today this would be very large grading project. Technology and equipment has improved. Fill placed in water would be done much different today. There was no compaction, no screening / grading fill material. Clay was dumped along with glacial till and silts. None are good fill material as placed. The next 'big one' earthquake will liquefy fill and major damage will happen. Many of the buildings on fill have no piles. Today, a seawall would be built and in some areas water pumped out. Dry fill on dry base with compaction is current technology.

[@Dimension150]

UA Cinemas at 17:44! The location of this theater was referred to as "in the Denny regrade".

[@hebneh]

I imagine the Denny Regrade has long since been developed by now, but it's interesting that it was completed in 1930 but by 1970 was still not fully built on, to judge by the narration.

its still an undeveloped shithole

[@RealSteel319]

Thanks for the history I wondered how all that happened

[@fullmoonAZ]

David Denny deserves a lot more recognition. He was an amazing man, integral to the birth of Seattle.

[@thomasthompson6378]

Yes; too bad the City felt the need to destroy it.

[@fullmoonAZ]

@@thomasthompson6378 The need to destroy what? His reputation?

[@DanDDirges]

Really good and interesting video! I don't think todays Seattle would have done the regrades out of concern for the environment.

[@wildone106]

Yes no concern for its actual citizens

[@vipermad358]

@@wildone106 Many people were against these regrades at the time. If you read some history books, instead of using your flawed supposition, you would know that. But, I suspect the truth does not actually concern you. 🤔

[@dg7259]

​@@vipermad358o

[@vudu8ball]

Fabulous !

[@willowdog5084]

ok is there anyone watching this for fun?

[@vipermad358]

Me!

[@JadedLady]

I am.

[@davidlong3219]

Me

[@jamesjazz3395]

Yes

[@wendyrx]

Makes me so proud to be one of the descendants of the Denny party. My great grandmother was Nellie Denny.

[@RealLifeFinance]

Sweet!

[@JB-1138]

Is she the namesake for the Pike place brewing company's beer called Naughty Nellie?

[@wendyrx]

@@JB-1138 no idea.. I'll have to ask my uncle and aunt. If it is I'll come back and let you know!

[@misst1741]

great vid.

[@timfredrickson3889]

Imagine how beautiful the tideflats and lake Washington and the hills would have been without the city :(

[@timfredrickson3889]

And the duwamish river :(((Sad to think we did so much damage just for a good port

[@Robert-un3cf]

and the old growth forest with massive trees

[@dorianjepsen]

My volume is set at MAX and the sound is barely audible even with headphones. Please re-upload this video with the audio set at something greater than three decibels!

[@deedeedixon712]

Could you imagine how beautiful that mountain with a Vast park and huge trees would be. Those financial companies could have worked around that Mountain ! 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭✨✨✨

[@JB-1138]

Seattle. The land of never ending road construction.

[@JB-1138]

I once came across another channel that suggested all of this work was done hundreds of years ago by a fictional empire called Tartaria. Absolutely ridiculous!

[@wafflesnfalafel1]

Pretty neat that the entire area is covered in hundreds of millions of dollars of tech money - who would have thought back then!

[@vipermad358]

Perhaps. I’d rather have the hill back.

[@stanburdick9708]

And hundreds of stinkin yuppys😡

[@derekdowns6275]

The Denny Hotel looked magnificent. I don't think the trade was worth the loss.

[@Lanternsinthesky-studios]

The environmental damage for all of us in the name of progress.

[@stanburdick9708]

Yep, now nothing but glass garbage dump

[@JB-1138]

Boo hoo...

[@Dickfuckgoogle]

@JB-1138 Go suck an exhaust pipe.

[@Landoniousiii]

Health & Safety doesn't approve of the scene at 9:30

[@RealLifeFinance]

Haha

[@Jswines123]

The beginning of the end of a once great and beautiful city.

[@Dizzy206]

Jswines123 It still is a great and beautiful city. How would you know what Seattle was like before the regrade?

[@fullydude]

Yup. it's been all down hill from there. hahahahaha

[@stanburdick9708]

Yep from 2000 on the once loved city has turned to $hit😡

[@Gizathecat2]

My family moved to Seattle in 1964, and I recall as a child noticing the difference between downtown and what I later learned was the Denny Regrade. It was so flat! I don’t go into Seattle, especially downtown anymore. Seattle was so much more livable back in the days of sensible government when laws were enforced and wrongdoing prosecuted!

[@fullmoonAZ]

@@Gizathecat2 "Back in my day... "

[@billmulkins3217]

without that you wouldn't have the kingdome or baseball stadium or even Boeing field.

[@Tony-so1zl]

Exactly

[@atheistleopard618]

Regrade 1930-1970....Homeless camps 1970-2019... from 0:01 to 18:44

[@stephenlally6009]

there were plenty of homeless camps during the depression

[@chrispeterson1247]

@@stephenlally6009 Were they all strung out on heroin too?? Lol Seattle is a giant pile of shit now...burn it to the ground and start over

[@vipermad358]

@@chrispeterson1247 Id rather someone do that to you. Fucking ignoramus. Ever heard of opium? No. Cuz you are a dumbass.

[@neil2831]

@@vipermad358 your mother was on opium when she had you.

[@Robert-un3cf]

@@stephenlally6009 there were "Hoovervilles" but nothing like the public display of mental illness and addiction that is common now

[@kevincook1618]

Once upon a time: "The vision of Forward-Looking Citizens." 2020: "CHAZ!!!" Says a lot about the modern version of 'vision.' Missing the Emerald City.

[@JB-1138]

You can hardly blame people from 100 years ago for CHAZ/CHOP.

[@michellelaclair]

yes this is fascinating / wondering if any landslides happened due to rainfall

[@JB-1138]

Well they flattened the hill so that reduces any possibility of a landslide.

[@michellelaclair]

Hmmm.interesting​@@JB-1138

[@markproulx1472]

Seattle really dropped the ball when it failed to implement the Seattle Commons.

[@markpreston6930]

6:03 Metallica played 3/17/85 and I was there.

[@flutebasket4294]

And now the whole city's a toilet

[@racurv1]

Yeah, what a shame.

[@willowdog5084]

5:00 7:27 12:15

[@rcrinsea]

It wasn’t until the 1970’s that people of East Asian ancestry were allowed to live in north Seattle. That’s why it’s still whiter than south Seattle. Seattle was not a progressive city back in the day.

[@wildone106]

racist

[@vipermad358]

@@wildone106 Asshole.

[@3treept]

Not entirely correct. Chinese came to Seattle to help complete the railroads. They settled in the area close to the railway station. The area became known as Chinatown. As other Asians immigrated to Seattle, they settled with other Asians. Eventually this area became known as the International District. That's the main reason south Seattle has more Asians than north Seattle. None of this is to say that Seattle was not racist in its housing patterns.

[@bluecollarbeat3156]

Substantiate this with references if you are not a liar

[@JB-1138]

That is not even close to accurate.

[@ducati644]

Id say the city was more interesting and engaging before. It had more character

[@pagerhoads1531]

Look at all those Tartarian mud flood buildings

[@RealLifeFinance]

Musta been a big slide that wiped out the other buildings by the Hotel

[@JB-1138]

Please tell me you're joking!

[@JB-1138]

Even with photographic evidence. You ignore it. Why would you rather believe in fake Tartaria?

[@reverend11-dmeow89]

tell everyone the July 23 council meeting will be a meet my neighbors hilarity fest.

[@Jazna1]

I'm still mad about the arrogance of the people who decided that Seattle's beautiful geography "needed" to be altered. The regrade area is a flat wasteland. What a sad loss for Seattle. Excellent film though and thank you for posting.

[@JB-1138]

It's not like you were there, why are mad?

[@markpreston6930]

No trees in Seattle because of glaciation and regrade.

[@bsea35]

Amazon Regrade 😕

[@stanburdick9708]

A loved city embraced by myself and those who knew it when it was alive and well , sadly has regressed to a GLASS GARBAGE DUMP............HOW TERRIBLE

[@cme98]

Love being SHOUTED AT IN THE OPENING OF THIS CLIP IS THAT HOW ALL SEATTLE CITIZENS WERE TAUGHT TO WRITE? BY SCREAMING AT EVERYONE?! THATS FUCKED UP!

[@JB-1138]

What the heck are you talking about?

[@shaggybreeks]

Those fake film scratches and streaks -- good grief, back in the day, those were undesirable. Now they add them to videos? IQ!

[@SeattleArchives]

This film was created in the 1970s. The copy retained by the Engineering Department and transferred to the Archives was very scratched (which is indeed undesirable, but an unfortunate reality in this case). No effects were added to the video transfer of this film.

[@reapergamingfps]

Electric shovels. Interesting