Remembering Pittsburgh by Len Barcousky

Author:Len Barcousky
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2010-06-12T16:00:00+00:00

1845: “FEARFUL CALAMITY”—A GREAT FIRE—BURNS ITSELF OUT

April in Pittsburgh had been unusually dry but typically breezy in 1845. “Between the weather, the wind and the dust, the city was excessively unpleasant,” according to the April 14 edition of the Daily Gazette and Advertiser.

About five minutes after noon on April 10, what had been unpleasant became catastrophic. A woman had been building an outdoor fire next to a home on Ferry Street—just west of present-day Market Street—when it got out of control and engulfed the adjoining house. “The fire originated in the centre of a nest of wooden buildings, and fed by the breeze, [it] cracked, leaped and fairly licked the dry wood,” the April 14 Gazette said. “After enveloping the frames, it took across the street in different directions.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.