The Perils of the 'Hill' for Seattle's Early Commuters
Before the city's regrades and paved arterial roads, a simple trip across the hill was a matter of survival, as a horse-drawn buggy accident reminds us.
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.
A painful accident happened yesterday on the hill. A Miss White, living near the California Hotel, and her friend from Victoria were thrown out of their buggy and severely injured. They were taken into the house and attended by Mrs. Insomino, who kindly cared for them and dressed their wounds until Doctor Levau of the Washington Hospital had them removed to their home.
“A painful accident happened yesterday on the hill. A Miss White... and her friend... were thrown out of their buggy and severely injured.”
This 1885 account of a buggy accident on 'the hill' serves as a reminder of Seattle's dramatic topographical challenges before the massive regrading projects of the early 20th century. Today, we navigate the same steep downtown corridors with cars and light rail, but the echoes of these treacherous, unpaved inclines remain embedded in the city’s complex street grid.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.