Seattle’s Great Fire: Six Years Later
Reflecting on the 1889 conflagration that leveled the city and the resilience that rebuilt it from the ashes.
Six years ago this morning, the people of Seattle awoke upon a scene of desolation—a night of terrible excitement, during which many fortunes were wrecked. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon of June 6, the great fire broke out at the corner of Front and Madison streets in a small paint shop which stood on the now vacant lot—the only one not built upon within a considerable radius. That vacant lot is the only reminder of the fire left. On the night of the fire, matters looked gloomy for Seattle, but within twenty-four hours it had been turned by the pluck of the people into an advantage. A meeting of citizens was held at which it was determined to begin anew. The main streets were widened, their replanking ordered, and owners of property set about rebuilding. The spirit which animated the people that day should not flag now, when the reaction following two years of extraordinary activity is taxing their fortitude and resources.
“The spirit which animated the people that day should not flag now, when the reaction following two years of extraordinary activity is taxing their fortitude and resources.”
The 1889 Great Seattle Fire destroyed the city's central business district, leading to the regrading and widening of streets that define downtown today. This editorial reflects on the city's 'pluck' during a subsequent economic depression, mirroring the recurring cycles of boom, bust, and reinvention that have characterized Seattle's urban development for over a century.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.