Seattle's 1889 Fire Destroys Entire Business District
A devastating blaze wipes out the city's entire business district.
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.
The entire business portion of Seattle was burned on Thursday, the 6th. Not a business house is left in the city. The estimated losses by last Thursday's fire at Seattle are placed at $10,000,000. Every town in the Northwest has responded to Seattle's call for aid. During the fire at Seattle last Thursday, a thief while trying to effect an entrance at the rear of one of the burning banks was shot and killed by a policeman.
“Not a business house left in the city.”
The Great Seattle Fire of 1889 fundamentally altered the city's urban landscape, forcing a massive regrade and rebuilding effort that still defines the footprint of Pioneer Square today. It serves as a reminder of how quickly wooden frontier cities could be erased by fire, necessitating the move to masonry construction.
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