Boston Burnt: The Great Fire of 1872

Great fires plagued America's cities during the 19th century, such as the well-known fire in Chicago in 1871.  Most Bostonians today are not aware that a large swath of Boston's commerical district was destroyed in a single fire just one year after Chicago. The map to the left shows how the fire spread north from Summer Street and raged on for 15 hours destroying 770 mostly commercial buildings in its path. Boston's Great Fire started in the basement of a 5-story warehouse building ...