Fire Threatens Seattle’s Courthouse
A late-night blaze at Slorah's malt house on Mill Street forced the evacuation of the jail and nearly consumed the county’s official records.
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.
At 1:10 this morning, the bell sounded the fire alarm. A bright blaze was discovered on Mill Street in the direction of the courthouse. Slorah's malt house was on fire and already doomed. The rear of the jail building is not over twenty feet from the burning brewery. For ten minutes, men battled with portable extinguishers as the breeze swept flames against the jail. Prisoners were quickly removed to the city jail, and the records were stored in the brick vault connecting with the county jail. While 2,000 people gathered, no water was initially attainable. Efforts to pull down the malt house failed. Eventually, the east end of the jail building caught fire, and it appeared the new Court House would be lost. Men swarmed the roof with buckets, hoisting water by rope. By strenuous exertions, the Court House was saved. The jail, a wooden structure built over a stone base, was consumed, but the jail proper sustained little damage. The cause of the fire is unknown. City and county officials were fortunate that no wind was prevailing, as the lack of water would have otherwise led to a disastrous conflagration.
“Everybody worked with a will, but under great difficulties.”
The fire described here occurred in the heart of Pioneer Square, near where Mill Street (now Yesler Way) met the waterfront. It captures a time when Seattle relied on bucket brigades and small private streams rather than a municipal fire system, highlighting the constant anxiety of a growing wood-frame city.
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