Off the Bricks

The 1852 Hunt · STOP 04 · Downtown Crossing

The Great Fire started in a basement on this corner, and no photograph of it burning is known to exist.

The Great Fire of 1872 burned 776 buildings across 65 acres of downtown Boston, and no photograph of it burning is known to exist - only the ruins, afterward. It started in a basement on a Summer Street corner just after seven on a Saturday night. A plaque marks the spot and puts a price on the damage. The fire historians use a different number.

Ruins of the Claflin, Larrabee building after the Great Fire, photograph by Geo. W. Reynolds, ca. 1872.
Geo. W. Reynolds, 'Boston Fire of 1872, remains of Claflin Larrabee building,' ca. 1872. Boston Public Library, Arts Department, via Digital Commonwealth.

This is stop 4 of The 1852 Hunt. Walk it free in the app.

The plate

Where 776 Buildings Burned

Collected on site

01020304050607080910111213
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors

Corner of Summer Street and Kingston Street
Directions

1

The inquiry heard about mansard roofs dozens of times. One witness: 'This whole fire is the result of the architects being allowed to pile up their Mansard roofs.' Low water pressure made the top floors and roofs hard to reach, the BPL says.

More footnotes on the story card, in the app.

Argue about it

Who's to blame for the Great Fire: the architects or City Hall?

Both sides, with their sources, are on the story card in the app.

Plaque hunt, Then and now, Money

Near Downtown Crossing · Near Chinatown · Near South Station · Near Park Street · Near Boylston · Near State

Sources (8)