Seattle's 1889 Fire Destroys 64 Acres of Downtown
A glue pot disaster in a paint shop levels sixty-four acres of Seattle’s business district, triggering a massive regional relief effort.
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.
On Thursday afternoon, June 6th, a boiling pot of glue was tipped over in the paint shop of James McGough, at the corner of Front and Madison streets, Seattle, starting the fire that swept from existence sixty-four acres of business blocks. All that portion of the city from Union street southward for the distance of a mile, and from the waterfront eastward for a quarter of a mile, is gone. Every building except the Boston block fell a prey to the flames. The wharves are all destroyed, and every bank building, mill, and railroad property within the area is in ashes. Mayor Moran of Seattle issued a proclamation stating that while the city is in ruins, her citizens are indomitable. Yakima’s citizens responded to the appeal for aid, voting a relief fund and shipping flour, beef, bacon, and vegetables. Martial law was declared, and the First Regiment N.G.W. was tasked with guarding the city. There is talk of replatting the burned district with wider streets and prohibiting wooden buildings.
“The city of Seattle, the pride of Washington, is in ashes. A hurricane of fire has swept over the queenly city and she is in ruins.”
This catastrophe was a pivotal moment in Seattle’s history, forcing a massive urban redesign that essentially created the modern city grid. The solidarity shown by Yakima during the 1889 disaster mirrors the regional interdependence that still defines Washington state during modern wildfires or economic crises.
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