Photo: Edward Mendel · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Research
Mud Flood
Buried first floors, raised streets and what lies under the cities
Hidden history
What the record shows
Around the world, old buildings have windows below street level, sunken first floors and basements with doors to nowhere. The usual story says cities raised their streets for drainage. The mud flood idea asks whether something buried the cities instead, and the people who came after dug them out.
Chicago raised itself
In the 1850s and '60s, Chicago jacked whole blocks of buildings up several feet, and the street was raised to meet them. The photos are real. The question is why.
Seattle's underground
After the 1889 fire, Seattle built its new streets one storey higher. The old storefronts are still down there, and you can tour them.
Fair construction photos
Researchers compare 1890s fair 'construction' photos with excavation: piles of earth, rail spurs and workers at the base of finished walls.
Questions worth asking
- Why do so many cities have underground storefronts?
- Why do construction photos show so much earth being moved?
- Why are basement windows so common in buildings of this era?
What the photos show
Related fairs
Related buildings
Further viewing
Episodes from My Lunch Break (Michael Kruse), the main lens for this app. They open on YouTube.
