Great Seattle fire

The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington, on June 6, 1889.

Events of the fire

At approximately 2:30 pm on June 6, 1889, an accidentally overturned glue pot in the carpentry shop of John Bachs started the most destructive fire in the history of Seattle. [cite journal |last=Austin |first=Charles W. |coauthors=H.S. Scott |issue=Spring, 1983 |title=The Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889 |journal=Washington State Genealogical and Historical Review |pages=41–72 ]

pread of fire

Fed by the shop’s timber and an unusually dry summer, the blaze erupted and shortly devoured the entire block. The fire quickly spread north to the Kenyon block and the nearby Madison and Griffith blocks.

A combination of ill-preparedness and unfortunate circumstances contributed to the great fire. Seattle’s water supply was insufficient in fighting the inferno. Fire hydrants were sparsely located on every other street, usually connected to small pipes.cite web|url=http://content.lib.washington.edu/seattle-fire/index.html|title=Great Seattle Fire|publisher=University of Washington Libraries|work=Digital Collections|date=23 January 2007|accessdate=2007-06-29] There were so many hydrants in use during the fire that the water pressure was too weak to fight such a massive blaze. Seattle also operated by a volunteer fire department, which was competent, but inadequate in extinguishing the fire.

Magnitude of destruction

Over thirty-two city blocks burned. Over five thousand jobs were lost in Seattle’s business district. The fire destroyed nearly the entire business district, all of the railroad terminals, and all but four of the wharves. Despite the massive destruction of property, only one person is known to have died in the fire, a young boy named James Goin. Unfortunately, there were also fatalities during the cleanup process. Total losses were estimated at nearly $20,000,000. [Austin & Scott, p. 45]

Reconstruction and recovery

Despite the magnitude of destruction, the rebuilding effort began quickly. Rather than starting over somewhere else, Seattle's citizens decided to rebuild.

Seattle rebuilt from the ashes with astounding rapidity. The fire had done a fine job of cleansing the town of rats and other vermin. A new building ordinance resulted in a downtown of brick and stone buildings, rather than wood.

In the year following the fire Seattle’s population actually grew by nearly 20,000 to 40,000 inhabitants from the influx of people helping to recreate the city. [cite journal |last=Davies |first=Kent R. |title=Sea of Fire |journal=Columbia Magazine |issue=Summer 2001 |pages=32–38 ] Supplies and funds came from all over the West Coast to support the relief effort. The population increase made Seattle the largest city in Washington, making it a leading contender in becoming the terminus of the Great Northern Railroad. [cite book |last=MacDonald |first=Norbert |title=Distant Neighbors: A Comparative History of Seattle and Vancouver |pages=33–38 |year=1987 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |location=Lincoln, NE |isbn= ]

Post-fire reform

The city made many improvements in response to the fire. The city’s fire department shifted from a volunteer to a professional force with new firehouses and a new chief. The city took control of the water supply, increasing the number of hydrants and adding larger pipes. The advent of brick buildings to downtown Seattle was one of the many architectural improvements the city made in the wake of the fire. New city ordinances set standards for the thickness of walls and required “division walls” between buildings. [cite book |last=Ochsner|first=Jeffrey Karl|authorlink= |coauthors=Dennis A. Andersen |title=Distant Corner: Seattle Architects and the Legacy OF H.H. Richardson |pages=55–110 |year=2003 |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle, WA |isbn= ] These changes became principal features of post-fire construction and are still visible in Seattle’s Pioneer Square district today, the present-day location of the fire. At Pioneer Square, guided tours are also available to paying customers. Also at this location visitors can tour Underground Seattle, where they can visit remains of buildings that were built over after the fire.

References

Further reading

* Andrews, Mildred Tanner, editor, "Pioneer Square: Seattle's Oldest Neighborhood", University of Washington Press, Seattle and London 2005.
* Buerge, David, "Seattle in the 1880s", Historical Society of Seattle and King County, Seattle 1986, pages 108-115.
* Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, and Andersen, Dennis Alan, “After the Fire: The Influence of H. H. Richardson on the Rebuilding of Seattle, 1889-1894,” "Columbia" 17 (Spring 2003), pages 7-15.
* Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, and Andersen, Dennis Alan, "Distant Corner: Seattle Architects and the Legacy of H.H.Richardson", University of Washington Press, Seattle and London 2003.
* Ochsner, Jeffrey Karl, and Andersen, Dennis Alan, “Meeting the Danger of Fire: Design and Construction in Seattle after 1889.” "Pacific Northwest Quarterly" 93 (Summer 2002), pages 115-126.
* Warren, James R., "The Day Seattle Burned: June 6, 1889", Seattle 1989.
* Shizzacoff, Sean J., "The Life of a boy named James Goin,: July 16, 1878-June 6, 1889: Seatle 1989. Pages 298-345

External links

* [http://content.lib.washington.edu/cgi-bin/docviewer.exe?CISOROOT=/pioneerlife&CISOPTR=2139 University of Washington Libraries] Austin, Charles W., "The great Seattle fire of June 6th, 1889: containing a succinct and complete account of the greatest conflagration on the Pacific coast."
* [http://content.lib.washington.edu/ University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections] :
** [http://content.lib.washington.edu/boydweb/index.html William F. Boyd Photograph Album] 43 photographs of early Seattle, particularly scenes of the Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889, and Washington state, ca. 1888-1893.
** [http://content.lib.washington.edu/boydbraasweb/index.html Boyd and Braas Photographs] 45 photographs, ca. 1888-1893, of early Seattle, including the waterfront and street scenes, the Great Seattle fire of June 6, 1889, Madrona and Leschi parks, Native American hop pickers, and portraits of Seattle pioneers.
** [http://content.lib.washington.edu/curtisweb/index.html Asahel Curtis Photo Company Photographs] Photographs (ca. 1850s-1940) depicting activities in Washington state, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska and the Klondike.
** [http://content.lib.washington.edu/prosch_seattleweb/index.html Prosch Seattle Views Album] 169 images by Thomas Prosch, one of Seattle's earliest pioneers, documenting the early history of Seattle and vicinity, ca. 1851-1906. Included are images of the waterfront, businesses, residences, and the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
** [http://content.lib.washington.edu/prosch_washingtonweb/index.html Prosch Washington Views Album] 101 images (ca. 1858-1903) collected and annotated by Thomas Prosch, one of Seattle's earliest pioneers. Images document scenes in Eastern Washington especially Chelan and vicinity, and Seattle's early history including the Great Seattle Fire of 1889.
** [http://content.lib.washington.edu/seattleweb/index.html Seattle Photographs] Ongoing database of over 1,700 historical photographs of Seattle with special emphasis on images depicting neighborhoods, recreational activities including baseball, the Great Seattle Fire of 1889, "The Great Snow of 1916", theaters and transportation.
* [http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=715 HistoryLink.org] Seattle's Great Fire -- A Snapshot History, Essay #715