The term seven hills of Seattle refers unofficially to the hillsthe U.S. city was built on and around, though there is no consensus on exactly which hills it refers to.[1][2][3] The term has been used to refer to several other cities, most notably Rome and Constantinople.
The seven hills
Walt Crowley considered the main candidates for the seven hills to be:[3]
First Hill, nicknamed "Pill Hill" because of the many hospitals and clinics located there
Seattle's topography is due largely to Pleistocene ice age glaciation. Nearly all of the city's seven hills are characterized as drumlins (Beacon Hill, First Hill, Capitol Hill, Queen Anne Hill, Mount Baker) or drift uplands (Magnolia, West Seattle).[11][12]
^ City of Seattle 2011 press release: "Seating walls on the plaza highlight the seven hills of Seattle and orient the viewer to the highest points of our city."
^Nelson 1990: "We can only imagine how Chief Sealth would view his Duwamish homeland today-the seven hills of Seattle bulldozed to fill tidelands where his people once gathered food..."
^Ferriss 1953: "the 'floating bridge' leading over Lake Washington to the unique city portal that pierces Mt. Baker, one of the 'seven hills of Seattle'"
Greg Johnston (November 13, 2008), "Fantastic Four: String Together These Emerald Parks for a Gem of an Urban Hike", Seattle Post-Intelligencer, p. 10 – via ProQuest
Williams, Hill (October 2, 1989), "Scientists Find Old Denny Hill – at Bottom of Puget Sound", The Seattle Times, p. C1 – via ProQuest
Nelson, Richard (July 15, 1990), "Rite of Northwest Passage The Good Rain Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest by Timothy Egan (book review)", The Los Angeles Times – via ProQuest
Geology of Seattle and the Puget Sound on YouTube, narrated by Nick Zentner (Central Washington University Department of Geological Sciences). Uploaded March 2, 2015 by Hugefloods.com (Nick Zentner and Tom Foster: Discover the Ice Age Floods).