The Great Beacon Hill Slide of 1892
Engineers and laborers scramble to contain a massive earth collapse threatening South Fourteenth Street.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The Union Trunk Line Company is busy filling in South Fourteenth Street, where the earth has slid down into the hollow. Tracks have been run into the bluff overlooking Beacon Place, and earth is being hauled from there to fill in the street. The natural springs that triggered the slide have since been drained to prevent further collapse.
“The springs which caused the slide have been drained off.”
Landslides in Seattle's steep neighborhoods remain a perennial geological and infrastructure challenge. The 1892 slide serves as an early reminder of the city's ongoing struggle to tame its shifting topography while developing urban density.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.