Yelm’s Business District Destroyed in Double Blaze
A catastrophic fire destroyed twenty buildings, leaving the local economy in ruins with losses exceeding $100,000.
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.
Flames wiped out the business section of Yelm in two fires recently, destroying 20 buildings and damaging two more structures, with a total estimated loss of from $100,000 to $140,000.
“Flames wiped out the business section of Yelm in two fires recently, destroying 20 buildings.”
Yelm today is a thriving gateway to Mt. Rainier, but the town’s vulnerability to fire was a recurring theme in the early 20th century. This event serves as a reminder of how quickly the early wooden downtowns of Washington were lost, fundamentally changing the town’s growth trajectory.
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