At the beginning of the 20th century, Seattle, Washington was rapidly becoming a major hub of trade in the Pacific Northwest.

Situated on a narrow, hilly isthmus, the city needed to grow in an organized way.

Following a fire which razed much of the downtown area, City Engineer R.H. Thomson took the opportunity to spearhead a wide-ranging effort to tame the terrain around the city and prepare it for a century of growth.

Canals were dug, rivers were diverted and mountains were moved.

In particular, the glacial hills and ridges which separated neighborhoods from the downtown waterfront were deemed a major impediment to travel and commerce, and a prime target for removal.

From the 1890s through the 1920s, more than 50 million cubic yards of earth were scraped away with pick axes, water cannons, steam shovels and conveyor belts. Much of the displaced earth was used for filling in tidal flats on the waterfront.