- 909 1st Ave
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47.604441, -122.336286 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)
- Corner with Madison St. Memorial plaque
- Who installed the lower plaque?
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Survivors
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Historical background
The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle on June 6, 1889. The conflagration lasted for less than a day, burning through the afternoon and into the night.
At approximately 2:30 pm on June 6, 1889, an accidentally overturned glue pot in a carpentry shop started the most destructive fire in the history of the city. Over next two weeks there were couple corections about initial incident location, but the original error was often repeated. The fire soon spread to the wood chips and turpentine covering the floor. Attempt to douse the fire with water only served to spread the fire further. The fire department arrived by 2:45, but by that time the area was so smokey that the source of the fire could not be determined. A combination of ill-preparedness and unfortunate circumstances contributed to the great fire. Seattle’s water supply was insufficient in fighting the giant inferno.
By the morning of June 7, the fire had burned 25 city blocks, including the entire business district, four of the city's wharves, and its railroad terminals. Despite the magnitude of destruction, only one person was killed in the blaze. Total losses were estimated at nearly $20,000,000 ($558 million in today's dollars).
Rather than starting over somewhere else, Seattle's citizens decided to rebuild. Seattle rebuilt from the ashes quickly and new buildings were sat 20 feet above the original street level, and the fire killed many rats and other vermin, thereby eliminating the city's rodent problems. A new building ordinance resulted in a downtown of brick and stone buildings, rather than wood.
In the year following the fire Seattle’s population actually grew by nearly 20,000 to 40,000 inhabitants from the influx of people helping to recreate the city. Supplies and funds came from all over the West Coast to support the relief effort. The population increase made Seattle the largest city in Washington, making it a leading contender in becoming the terminus of the Great Northern Railway.
The advent of brick buildings to downtown Seattle was one of the many architectural improvements the city made in the wake of the fire. New city ordinances set standards for the thickness of walls and required "division walls" between buildings. These changes became principal features of post-fire construction and are still visible in Seattle's Pioneer Square district today. Also at this location, visitors can tour the Seattle Underground, where they can visit remains of buildings that were built over after the fire.
Present in routes of categories Lion-Mini, Lion
Passed by: 41/46 (89%).
By categories:
- Lion: 23/26 (88%)
- Lion-Mini: 18/20 (90%)