The Burning of the Bon Ton
After the proprietor of the notorious Bon Ton was jailed for running a 'bawdy house,' his building was razed by a suspicious fire.
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.
Yesterday morning, about four o'clock, the alarm of fire was given and it was found that the flames proceeded from the old Bon Ton, formerly occupied by Burke, who is now awaiting sentence for keeping a bawdy house. A crowd assembled around the burning building and efforts were made to quench the flames, but without avail. The fire was undoubtedly the work of incendiaries. About the same time, attempts were made to set fire to the Snug and Seattle Saloons, but they were unsuccessful.
“The fire was undoubtedly the work of incendiaries.”
This 1876 account of a vigilante-style arson targeting a disreputable establishment echoes the long, fraught history of Seattle's 'clean-up' campaigns. From the territorial era to modern efforts to clear encampments or shutter businesses deemed public nuisances, the city has frequently seen property destruction used as a tool of moral or social policing.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.