The Day Ellensburg Burned to the Ground
A devastating blaze in 1889 consumed fourteen blocks of the young city's business district, leaving merchants and residents in ruins.
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.
At 11 p.m., fire broke out in J.S. Anthony's jewelry store on Main Street between Fourth and Fifth streets in Ellensburg. Fanned by a brisk west wind, it rapidly destroyed the whole of Ellensburg with the exception of the National Bank and the Opera House block. It is estimated that the fire is spreading among the residences in the northeastern part of the city. The streets are crowded with teams and drays moving goods to places of safety. The water supply was inadequate and there was but one engine with which to fight the flames. There were no fatalities nor any one injured so far as known. About fourteen blocks were destroyed. The loss cannot fail to be at least $1,000,000. The burned district is bounded on the east by Jaknighth street, on the west by Water street, and extends from Fifth to Second.
“Fanned by a brisk west wind, it rapidly destroyed the whole of Ellensburg.”
The 1889 Ellensburg fire, which occurred the same year as the Great Seattle Fire, remains a foundational tragedy in Washington history. Today, Ellensburg's downtown, rebuilt in brick after this disaster, stands as a testament to early Pacific Northwest civic resilience in the face of urban catastrophe.
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