The Great Seattle Fire of June 6, 1889, was a significant turning point in the city's history and changed both the physical and political landscapes. The fire was accidentally started in a paint and woodwork shop at Madison Street and Front Street (now First Avenue) at 2:30 p.m., and over the course of the next 18 hours, swept a southward across 100 acres of Seattle's business district and waterfront. The fire left little standing in its wake, consuming buildings, docks, wooden sidewalks, and anything else combustible. Losses from the conflagration were estimated at $20 million.

This issue of Seattle Morning Journal was published the day after the fire, and includes the headline: "IN ASHES, Seattle Sorely Visited by Fearful Fire." Despite their headquarters' destruction in the fire, the Journal staff had already temporarily moved into the printing office of Benjamin Baker Dearborn (1852-1922). This issue is only one page, the back side is blank, but it is unknown if the paper was usually printed in this broadsheet-style, or if that was due to the effects of the Great Fire.

Seattle's commercial newspaper, the Daily Trade Journal, was started in 1888, but within a year had changed owners, dropped the "Trade" part of its name, and expanded focus to include daily local events. The Seattle Directory for 1889 lists the Daily Journal's editor as E. W. S. Tingle. While the self-described Democratic-leaning paper survived the Great Fire, the paper was only printed into the mid-1890s.

Caption information source: https://www.Seattle.gov/cityarchives/exhibits-and-education/digital-document-libraries/the-great-Seattle-fire-of-1889
Caption information source: "Newspapers of Washington Territory," by Edmond S. Meany, The Washington Historical Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2 (1923, April ), pp. 100-107. Retrieved from https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.php/WHQ/article/view/6418/5492