Tragedy at the Northport Hotel
A devastating fire at the Commercial Hotel in Northport claims the lives of two men and leaves others severely injured.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Two lives were lost at Northport last night by the burning of the Commercial Hotel. George Shields, the bartender, was so badly burned that he died in a few minutes, and Frank Ingle suffered injuries which caused his death a few hours later. Others were severely burned, but their names cannot be obtained.
“George Shields, the bartender, was so badly burned that he died in a few minutes.”
The era of the 'Commercial Hotel' was a standard feature of every boomtown in the Washington Territory, serving as a social and commercial hub. Fires in these wood-framed, rapidly constructed buildings were common and often fatal, a persistent risk that defined early urban planning.
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