83 results for: Great Seattle Fire (1889)
Early fire hose nozzle, ca. 1850
The Great Fire of June 6, 1889 was a significant turning point in Seattle's history and changed both the physical and political landscapes of the city. The fire started in a paint and woodwork shop at Front and Madison and swept southward across 100 acres of Seattle's business district and waterfront. The inferno completely consumed the business district's wooden buildings,…
ID Number:1953.325
Date:Circa 1850
China plate and cup that were in the Seattle Fire of 1889
The Great Fire of June 6, 1889 was a significant turning point in Seattle's history and changed both the physical and political landscapes of the city. The fire started in a paint and woodwork shop at Front and Madison and swept southward across 100 acres of Seattle's business district and waterfront. The inferno completely consumed the business district's wooden buildings,…
ID Number:1953.336
Date:Circa 1885
Revolver,.22 calibre, ca. 1870
Ellen Clough had arrived in Seattle a week before the Great Seattle Fire broke out. She and her husband had just bought a hotel on Front Street which was completely destroyed. They managed to find in the ashes an unpacked trunk in which this pistol was found.
ID Number:1953.343.1
Date:Circa 1875
Mural of 1889 Seattle Fire, painted in 1953
Seattle’s Great Fire occurred on June 6, 1889, in a carpenter shop at 1st Avenue and Madison Street. The story goes that a workman, John Back, was melting glue in a pot that boiled over onto the floor, igniting wood shavings and sawdust. The fire quickly grew and flames swept out through the shop’s open doors and windows, spreading to…
ID Number:1953.545.1
Date:1953
Hand-forged cleaver made by blacksmith August Joseph Wenzel, ca. 1890
August Joseph Wenzel (1856-1945) was born in Kingdom of Prussia, Germany, and moved to Seattle in 1888 with his wife Maria and their 8 children. He opened a blacksmith and cooper shop on Pike Street between Fourth Avenue and Fifth Avenue. Next door to the blacksmith shop he owned a wagon works shop and next to that a meat market.…
ID Number:1953.624
Date:Circa 1890
Pan from the Great Seattle Fire of 1889
This pan, rescued from Seattle's 1889 fire, features a painting by J.H. Barnes that depicts the railroad depot on Columbia Street.
ID Number:1955.898
Date:Circa 1889
Blue cape with long fringe from J.S. Graham, 1924
This cape from the 1920s features a velvet-like fabric called duvetyne on the exterior, a floral printed interior, and long decorative fringe. It has a label for Seattle retailer J.S. Graham. Owner John Graham opened his business just after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. It grew through the years, and by 1910 he had a store on the corner…
ID Number:1956.1098.C336
Date:1924
Oil portrait of Jacob Furth by unknown artist, ca. 1900
Jacob Furth (1840-1914) was an early Seattle businessman and public figure who played a large role in developing Seattle's city infrastructure. As the president of Seattle National Bank, Furth also helped Seattle recover from the Great Fire of 1889 and financial panic of 1893.
ID Number:1956.1145.2
Date:Circa 1900
Poster distributed by Seattle-based real estate and financial brokers, Crawford and Conover, featuring illustrated scenes of the Great Seattle Fire of 1889
This poster features scenes on Front Street before the the 1889 Seattle fire, the Yesler-Leary block and Occidental Hotel during the fire, Front Street after the fire, businesses that resumed in tents after the fire, the Relief Train from Portland to Seattle, and a tent set up by the Tacoma Relief Bureau. In the center is the date 1890 and…
ID Number:1957.1281.7
Date:1889
Plaster plaque of the head of Kikisoblu (Princess Angeline) by James Wehn, ca. 1910-1920
Kikisoblu (Princess Angeline), also known in Lushootseed as Kikisoblu, Kick-is-om-lo, or Wewick, was the eldest daughter of Chief Si'ahl (Chief Seattle) and a well-known figure during the early European American settler days of the city. She was born around 1820 and lived until she was in her mid-seventies. James A. Wehn (1882-1973), was born in Indiana and came to Seattle…
ID Number:1957.1373
Date:Circa 1910-1920