Ruins of Dexter Horton Bank after Seattle fire of June 6, 1889 (CURTIS 2103)

1 clue in this photo

1Below-grade windows

Brick arches from rubble, 1889

After the 1889 fire, the Dexter Horton Bank ruins show brick arches rising from rubble, and arched openings sit close to the debris line. The record notes the raised streets that followed.

The questionTwenty years before the fair, did Seattle's streets bury lower floors, and what is under the raised streets?

Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Seattle 1909 Case file

Same kind of clue, elsewhere

#4Below-grade windows · Grand Central TerminalGrand Central: arched windows at the debris lineWhy does a brand-new terminal have arched openings at or below the working grade?

Below-grade windows · Paris 1889A raised terrace at the baseWas the terrace built up for the fair, or was the surrounding ground lowered?

Below-grade windows · St. Louis 1904The Fine Arts Palace on a graded bankWhat was under the graded bank, and is there a lower floor?

Below-grade windows · St. Louis 1904The plinth meets the lawnIs the original ground line higher than it was in 1904?

Below-grade windows · Grand Central TerminalGrand Central corner: same buried archesWas the street level raised around an older lower storey?

Below-grade windows · Northern Michigan AsylumTraverse City: basement windows at gradeWere these lower windows always meant to sit at grade?

All clues others missed →