ChicagoTremont House hotel liftWhy lift a big brick hotel rather than just fill in around it?In 1861 Ely, Smith and Pullman lifted the Tremont House hotel six feet to meet the new street grade.
Photo: Edward Mendel · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Mud Flood · Chicago, United States
Chicago's street raising
The open question
Lifting a whole downtown with hand screws is a huge job. Was raising the buildings easier than digging them out, or was something already covering the old street?
On the record
In the 1850s and 1860s central Chicago was raised to a new grade. Buildings were lifted on jackscrews, and in January 1858 a four-storey, 750-ton brick building at Randolph and Dearborn went up 6 ft 2 in.
Sources
More from Mud Flood
ChicagoTremont House hotel liftWhy lift a big brick hotel rather than just fill in around it?In 1861 Ely, Smith and Pullman lifted the Tremont House hotel six feet to meet the new street grade.
SeattleSeattle UndergroundA whole storey of shops ended up below the street. Why build new streets a floor up instead of on the old ones?After the 1889 fire, Pioneer Square's streets were raised from several feet to a full storey. The old sidewalks and shopfronts are still down there, lit by glass vault lights. The city condemned the Underground in 1907.
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