Seattle’s underground by rena freeport
1the first white settlers to arrive in the seattle area landed at alki point on the western side of elliot bay. after enduring one year in the bug-polluted area of alki, the settlers decided to head for higher ground and a deep-water port. they went directly across the bay and began building in what is now pioneer square.
2the area was formerly a marsh and was barely above sea level. the water surrounding the settlement on the west and the tree-covered hills to the east made the area an ideal port. while the opportunities for fishing and logging seemed endless, the area presented the settlers with a number of other problems.
3seattle’s original sewer system lay below sea level, and twice a day, when the tide came in, the sewer would back up. this also meant that the ground was unstable. the people dealt with these problems as best as they could.
4the seattle settlers were industrious, and it wasn’t long before the area had its first sawmill. workers dragged or skidded logs to the wharf along yesler way, the nation’s original skid road. the area’s readily available supply of lumber accelerated seattle’s growth from a small logging community into a reasonably sized city.
5the expanding area suffered a major setback in 1889 when twenty-nine city blocks burned to the ground in hours. the fire started in a paint and woodwork shop and quickly spread, destroying four wharves and the railroad terminal. amazingly, the only lives lost were rodents. over one million rats were exterminated in the blaze.
6always optimistic, the city’s leaders saw the disaster as an opportunity to fix some of the problems plaguing seattle. the passage of strict building codes did away with much of the wood construction and all of the wood ornamentation used on previous buildings. building exteriors had to be stone or brick, and builders used slow-burning materials like steel for the interiors.
7workers also widened and raised the streets to bring the city higher above sea level. this feat raised the new streets about eighteen to thirty-two feet above the old ones. since construction had already begun on many of the new buildings, ground floors suddenly became basements. sidewalks that had once served as the front doors of businesses were below ground. another set of sidewalks now existed above ground. to get from one level to the other, people used ladders to cross the street: one ladder up and one ladder down. to add lighting to the streets below, the city placed colored glass skylights in the above ground sidewalks. residents referred to this area as “the underground.”
8seattle’s underground remained active until the city condemned it for fear of bubonic plague, a once-deadly disease carried by rats and other small rodents. building owners continued to use the space for storage, but it eventually fell into major disrepair. in 1965, seattle native bill speidel decided the seattle underground would make an interesting tourist attraction. he negotiated with a number of building owners to access their underground space and began cleaning up the mess that had accumulated over the years. today, one-hour tours cover a small portion of the original underground as knowledgeable tour guides amuse visitors with interesting stories about seattle’s founders and history.
which is the most logical paragraph in the essay for the following sentence?
potholes opened up regularly in the city streets and quickly filled with water.
a) paragraph 1
b) paragraph 3
c) paragraph 6
d) paragraph 8