Denny Regrade, Seattle, Washington
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The Denny Regrade is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington that stretches north of the central business district to the grounds of Seattle Center. Its generally flat terrain was originally a steep hill (Denny Hill), taken down as part of a mammoth construction project in the first decades of the 20th century. The neighborhood and hill are both named after the Denny family, who were among the city's earliest white inhabitants.
There was an upscale hotel, the Denny Hotel, at the top of the hill, and photos of the hotel perched precariously atop the partially removed hill during the excavation are rather startling. The hill was brought down by water and the debris washed into Elliott Bay (which, even so, remains more than deep enough for ocean-going vessels).
Seattle is located on a narrow strip of land between Lake Washington on the east and Puget Sound on the west. The north-south orientation of the lake and of the city's many hills is the result of glaciation. The terrain was first gouged by south-moving glaciers, and when they retreated, marked by mounds of rock debris left in their wake. Denny and Queen Anne Hills are two of those north of what is now downtown Seattle.