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The Great Spokane, Washington fire of 1889...
The Great Spokane, Washington fire of 1889...
Item # 592351
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August 06, 1889
THE WHEELING INTELLIGENCER, West Virginia, August 6, 1889
* Spokane, Washington
* "The Great Fire" (1st report)
The front page has one column headlines: "Wiped Out", "The City Of Spokane, W.T.", "Visited by a Fire that Destroys Twenty-Five Business Squares", "A Terrible Destruction" and more. See photos for 1st report coverage on the great fire at Spokane, Washington Territory.
Other news of the day throughout. Light browning, some margin chipping, should be handled with care.
wikipedia notes: Spokane's growth continued unabated until August 4, 1889, when a fire, now known as The Great Fire, began shortly after 6:00 p.m. and destroyed the city's downtown commercial district. Due to technical problems with a pump station, there was no water pressure in the city when the fire started. In an effort to impede the fire's growth, firefighters began demolishing buildings with dynamite. The fire continued despite this as the flames leaped over the cleared spaces and created their own firestorm. When volunteer firefighters attempted to quench the flames, they found their hoses were unusable. Eventually winds died down and the fire exhausted of its own accord. In the fires' aftermath, 32 blocks of Spokane's downtown were destroyed and one person was killed.
Category: Post-Civil War
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