Great Boston Fire of 1872

Ruins left by the fire

The Great Boston Fire of 1872 was Boston's largest urban fire, and still ranks as one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history. The conflagration began at 7:20 p.m. on November 9, 1872, in the basement of a commercial warehouse at 83-87 Summer Street. The fire was finally contained 12 hours later, after it had consumed about 65 acres (26 ha) of Boston's downtown, 776 buildings and much of the financial district, and caused $73.5 million in damage.[1] At least 30 people are known to have died in the fire.

Underlying causes

Franklin St. before and after the Great Boston Fire of 1872

Many factors contributed to Boston's Great Fire:

Events

Notable events of the fire:

Aftermath

Bird's-eye view of Boston, showing the burned district.

The fire rendered thousands of Bostonians jobless and homeless. Hundreds of businesses were destroyed, and dozens of insurance companies went bankrupt. However, the burnt district was quickly rebuilt in just under two years, mostly from the private capital of Boston's commercial property owners.

City planning during the post-fire reconstruction caused several streets in downtown Boston to be widened, particularly Congress Street, Federal Street, Purchase Street, and Hawley Street, and reserved the space for Post Office Square. Most of the rubble and ruins of the buildings destroyed by the fire was dumped in the harbor to fill in Atlantic Avenue.

Boston issued bonds for use by 16 private property owners in the downtown area to rebuild. A citizen who lived outside the area sued successfully, arguing that the bonds were a transfer of wealth from one set of citizens to another.

City ruins after the fire

Image gallery

References

  1. "The Rebuilding of Boston. One Year After the Great Fire. November 10, 1872" (Archived at Damrell’s Fire). Boston Morning Journal XL (13): 509. 1873-11-10. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  2. Steve Pearson. "Interesting facts about the department". Manchesterfirehistory.com. Retrieved January 11, 2011.

External links

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Coordinates: 42°21′13.75″N 71°3′30.80″W / 42.3538194°N 71.0585556°W / 42.3538194; -71.0585556

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