The Great Fire of 1889: Resilience in the Ashes
A traveler recounts their journey across the continent to find a city 'wiped out' but miraculously still standing, thriving in tents and determined to rebuild.
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.
Our journey to Seattle was one of great interest and pleasure. Arriving in Chicago we at once learned of the fire in Seattle. The startling headline, 'Seattle Wiped Out,' did not daunt us in the least. At 11 Saturday night, June 15, we reached the city. Notwithstanding the fire, we have been grateful to find that there is yet a Seattle, of worthy proportions and of buoyant, enterprising purpose. The fire swept almost the entire business section, yet it has by no means annihilated the city. The roots of the city's business were deeply imbedded in its very soil. The tents which on the night of our arrival looked white and ghostly now have a familiar look. Every form of business is done in them, and other temporary structures are being hastily erected. The people are full of hope and determination. There are no idlers, and there is no lawlessness.
“The roots of the city's business were deeply imbedded in its very soil; and its growth, cut off in a limited space, already with amazing quickness, and with a vigor which proves its vitality, is beginning to show itself.”
The Great Seattle Fire of June 1889 razed the central business district, yet the city's rapid, near-obsessive reconstruction within months set the tone for Seattle's 'boom-and-bust' cycle. The resilience noted by this traveler echoes the way the city continuously reinvents its physical and economic landscape in the face of disaster.
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