The Day the Windsor Hotel Burned
A ferocious wind fueled a fast-moving blaze that leveled the hotel and nearly half of the nearby business district, causing $150,000 in damages.
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.
A fire broke out at the Windsor Hotel today. The building was entirely destroyed in twenty minutes, the inmates being lucky to escape alive, leaving all their effects in the burning building. A strong wind was blowing at the time, which spread the fire to the adjacent and entire block, except for two houses. In a short time, despite the efforts of the fire department, most of the principal business houses and over half of their contents were destroyed. The loss is estimated at $150,000. There was insurance in various companies to the amount of $40,000. Among the heaviest losers are: T. Kendall, dry goods, $10,000; Windsor Hotel, L. Gilmore, proprietor, $4,000; M. M. French, drugs, $1,500; Dr. Ditaman, hardware, $1,100; Stevenson & Son, $1,200; A. H. Barber, drugs, $2,000; F. L. Olney & Co., book store, loss not yet known. Some insured from 50 to 80 per cent. If the fire occurred at night, the loss of life would be frightful, as the fire department could not control the flames.
“A strong wind was blowing at the time, which spread the fire to the adjacent and entire block.”
This 1886 blaze highlights the extreme vulnerability of early Seattle's wooden commercial corridors to rapid fire spread—a constant fear that eventually necessitated the transition to stone and brick architecture following the Great Fire of 1889. While modern fire codes have changed the landscape, the historical volatility of these 'boomtown' structures remains a defining lesson in civic infrastructure.
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