The Resilience of the Seattle Steam Candy Company
Starting with nothing after the Great Seattle Fire, one entrepreneur rebuilt his business from the ashes through sheer grit.
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.
Mr. R. Merchant, of the Seattle Steam Candy Company, was burned out in '89, on Cherry street; in '90, in the cracker factory, and in the late fire lost everything but his energy and faith in Seattle. The new company was organized June 13, and the first candy turned out June 21.
“In the late fire [he] lost everything but his energy and faith in Seattle.”
Merchant’s story of losing everything to fire and starting over in weeks captures the volatility of 19th-century Seattle business life. Today’s entrepreneurs face different pressures, but the 'rebuild at any cost' mentality remains a central thread in the city's identity following the Great Fire of 1889.
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