The Great Boston Fire of 1872 Started in a Summer Street Basement
It burned 65 acres of downtown and 776 buildings before it was stopped at Washington and Milk Streets.
At about 7:20 on the evening of November 9, 1872, a fire started in the basement of a dry-goods warehouse at 83–87 Summer Street, in today’s Downtown Crossing. By the time it was stopped the next day, it had burned about 65 acres of the city.
Why it spread
- Wooden mansard roofs let the flames jump from building to building, and many buildings were too tall for the fire ladders.
- Old water mains gave low pressure, and hydrant fittings weren’t standardized.
- Burning gas lines exploded, and attempts to blow up buildings with gunpowder to make firebreaks scattered burning debris.
- A horse flu had weakened the horses that pulled the fire engines, though investigators later found that cost only a few minutes.
The damage
776 buildings were destroyed, and estimates of the dead range from 26 to at least 30, including firefighters. The fire was finally stopped around midday on November 10 at Washington and Milk Streets, sparing the Old South Meeting House.
Boston rebuilt its financial district in under two years, widening streets like Congress and Federal and creating Post Office Square.
Sources: Wikipedia: Great Boston fire of 1872.
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