The Great Boston fire of 1760 was a major conflagration that occurred on March 20, 1760, in Boston in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The fire destroyed 349 buildings in the area between the modern Washington Street and Fort Hill, as well as several ships in port, and it left more than a thousand people homeless.
The town of Boston was repeatedly damaged by fire in its colonial history, with serious conflagrations taking place in 1653, 1676, 1679, 1682, 1691, 1711, and 1753. [1] The term "Great Fire" had previously been reserved for the fire of 1711, which had destroyed the First Town-House, but the 1760 blaze proved to be significantly larger and rendered 1711 as "comparatively unimportant." [2]
Boston suffered from a series of large fires in March 1760. On March 17, a blaze damaged several buildings in the West End, including the wooden meeting house which stood on the site of the Old West Church. On the following day, a fire broke out in a building occupied by the Royal Artillery on Griffin's Wharf and soon spread to a quantity of gunpowder and weapons, causing an explosion that destroyed the building and wounded four or five men. [3]
At about 2 a.m. on March 20, a fire of unknown cause broke out at a dwelling in Cornhill (modern Washington Street, nearly opposite to Pie Alley). The blaze was prevented from spreading much to the north or south, but it aggressively made its way to the east to Oliver's Dock on the harbor, destroying most of the structures in its path. A veer in the wind caused the fire to change direction toward King Street (now State Street), burning the homes on the corner opposite the Bunch-of-Grapes tavern and damaging the warehouses toward the Long Wharf. [4]
On its southeastern side, the fire expanded from Water Street to Milk Street, where it consumed many of the houses to the west and east. From there it advanced via Batterymarch to Fort Hill, taking most of the buildings along the way, and reached the South artillery battery. A panic arose over the presence of a large deposit of gunpowder near the battery, but most of the store was hurriedly removed just before the fire reached the area. The remaining powder was ignited by the blaze, however, causing a huge explosion which was heard from as far away as Hampton, New Hampshire. [5]
The 1760 fire was described by one contemporary writer as "the most terrible Fire that has happened" in Boston up to that time, although it was subsequently eclipsed by the Great Boston Fire of 1872. [6] 174 houses and 175 warehouses, shops, and other buildings were destroyed in the blaze, leaving more than a thousand people homeless, [7] and the total estimated losses of £53,334 hit especially hard in a town that had already "borne the extraordinary Expence" of the French and Indian War. [8] The human toll of the conflagration, however, was relatively light, with none reported dead and only a few wounded. [9]
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, the Massachusetts colonial legislature advanced £3,000 to Boston for relief assistance. [10] Over the following months, the town received several donations from throughout the British Empire as news of the disaster spread. The Assemblies of Pennsylvania and New York voted to send relief funds, while in Nova Scotia a significant amount of money was raised for the town, and individuals from as far away as London sent contributions. [11] A petition for assistance was also sent to either King George II (who died that same year) or George III, but what action was taken by the monarchy as a result is unknown. [12]
In order to prevent a similar disaster from occurring in the future, the Massachusetts legislature passed new laws and acts that improved fire safety standards in Boston. Any new building more than seven feet high that was made of wood would result in a fine, and a committee was appointed to re-lay the narrow streets of the burnt district. As a result of the new regulations, the homes that were rebuilt in the area were made of brick or slate instead of wood. [13]
Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In the United States, it is regarded as a standalone conflict under this name. Elsewhere it is usually viewed as the American theater of the War of the Spanish Succession. It is also known as the Third Indian War. In France it was known as the Second Intercolonial War.
The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington, on June 6, 1889. The conflagration lasted for less than a day, burning through the afternoon and into the night, during the same summer as the Great Spokane Fire and the Great Ellensburg Fire. Seattle quickly rebuilt using brick buildings that sat 20 feet (6.1 m) above the original street level. Its population swelled during reconstruction, becoming the largest city in the newly admitted state of Washington.
The Pierce–Hichborn House is an early Georgian house located at 29 North Square, Boston, Massachusetts. It is immediately adjacent to the Paul Revere House and is now operated as a nonprofit museum by the Paul Revere Memorial Association. An admission fee is charged.
In common with all old cities, the City of London has experienced numerous serious fires in the course of its history.
Alexander Hamilton Rice was an American politician and businessman from Massachusetts. He served as Mayor of Boston from 1856 to 1857, a U.S. Congressman during the American Civil War, and as the 30th Governor of Massachusetts from 1876 to 1879. He was part owner and president of Rice-Kendall, one of the nation's largest paper products distributors.
The great fire of Gateshead and Newcastle was a tragic and spectacular series of events starting on Friday 6 October 1854, in which a substantial amount of property in two North East England towns was destroyed in a series of fires and an explosion which killed 53 and injured hundreds. There is only one building still extant on the Newcastle Quayside which predated the fire.
Portland Public Library is the main library of the public library system in Portland, Maine, USA. It is located at 5 Monument Square on Congress Street in the Old Port of Portland, Maine. The library has three neighborhood branches, Burbank branch, Peaks Island branch, and Riverton branch.
The Boston Fire Department provides fire services and first responder emergency medical services to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It also responds to such incidents as motor vehicle accidents, hazardous material spills, utility mishaps, floods, explosions, and construction accidents among others.
The Latting Observatory was a wooden tower in New York City built as part of the 1853 Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations, adjoining the New York Crystal Palace. It was located on the North side of 42nd Street between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue across the street from the site of present-day Bryant Park. Conceived by Waring Latting and designed by architect William Naugle, the observatory was an octagonally-based, iron-braced wooden tower 315 feet (96 m) high adjoining the Crystal Palace, with landings at three levels on the structure, allowing visitors to see east into Queens, south into Staten Island, and west into New Jersey. The tower, taller than the spire of Trinity Church at 290 feet (88 m), was the tallest structure in New York City from the time it was constructed in 1853 until it was shortened in 1855. The tower's base was a 75-foot (23 m) square, tapering to a top of 6 to 8 feet. It could handle up to 1,500 people at a time. It burned down in 1856.
The Columbian Museum was a museum and performance space in Boston, Massachusetts, established by Daniel Bowen, and continued by William M. S. Doyle. The museum operated during 1795–1825 featuring artworks, natural history specimens, wax figures, and other curiosities.
Trinity Church (1735–1872) was an Episcopal church in Boston, Massachusetts, located on Summer Street. It housed Boston's third Anglican congregation. The Great Fire of 1872 destroyed the church building, and by 1877 the congregation moved into a new building in Back Bay.
The siege of Port Royal, also known as the Conquest of Acadia, was a military siege conducted by British regular and provincial forces under the command of Francis Nicholson against a French Acadian garrison and the Wabanaki Confederacy under the command of Daniel d'Auger de Subercase, at the Acadian capital, Port Royal. The successful British siege marked the beginning of permanent British control over the peninsular portion of Acadia, which they renamed Nova Scotia, and it was the first time the British took and held a French colonial possession. After the French surrender, the British occupied the fort in the capital with all the pomp and ceremony of having captured one of the great fortresses of Europe, and renamed it Annapolis Royal.
Bowdoin Square in Boston, Massachusetts was located in the West End. In the 18th and 19th centuries it featured residential houses, leafy trees, a church, hotel, theatre and other buildings. Among the notables who have lived in the square: physician Thomas Bulfinch; merchant Kirk Boott; and mayor Theodore Lyman. The urban renewal project in the West End in the 1950s removed Green Street and Chardon Street, which formerly ran into the square, and renamed some existing streets; it is now a traffic intersection at Cambridge Street, Bowdoin Street, and New Chardon Street.
The Boston Gaol (1635–1822) was a jail in the center of Boston, Massachusetts, located off Court Street, in the block bounded by School, Washington and Tremont Streets. It was rebuilt several times on the same site, before finally moving to the West End in 1822. Prisoners included Quakers, "witches," pirates, murderers, rebels, debtors, and newspaper editors.
The Great Fire of Pittsburgh was a conflagration in Pittsburgh which occurred on April 10, 1845. It was sparked by an unattended fire that ignited a nearby ice shed or barn, and spread due to a number of factors, including the poor water pressure the outstripped infrastructure gave to the ill-equipped volunteer fire companies, the mixture of soot, flour dust, and cotton fibers in the air from industry, the frequent near-gale-force winds hitting the city at midday, and the six weeks before the fire that the city had been deprived of rain.
The Great New York City Fire of 1845 broke out on July 19, 1845, in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The fire started in a whale oil and candle manufacturing establishment and quickly spread to other wooden structures. It reached a warehouse on Broad Street where combustible saltpeter was stored and caused a massive explosion that spread the fire even farther.
The Great Chelsea fire of 1973, also known as the second Great Chelsea fire, was a conflagration that occurred on October 14, 1973, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a city directly across the Chelsea Creek from East Boston. The fire burned 18 acres (7.3 ha), and was spread by strong winds and a lack of adequate water supply in the neighborhood of the fire. The fire started 200 yards (180 m) away from the origin of the Great Chelsea fire of 1908.
The Great Chelsea fire of 1908, also known as the first Great Chelsea fire, was a conflagration that occurred on April 12, 1908, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a city directly across the Chelsea River from East Boston. Nineteen people were killed, 15,000 were left homeless, and 350 acres (140 ha) were burned in the fire. The fire started 200 yards (180 m) away from the Great Chelsea fire of 1973.
The Great Boston Fire of 1711 was a conflagration that burned the central district of Boston, then the capital of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, on October 2–3, 1711. The fire destroyed approximately one hundred buildings, including the Town House and First Meeting House, and resulted in several fatalities.