Facebook Wall - The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904

Phil Falcone posted in Washington Star / Washington Evening Star / Washington Star-News Phil Falcone 7:21am May 12 quote: The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904 It might have begun when someone discarded a burning cigarette in the basement of a downtown office building Feb. 7. Thirty-one hours later, when the conflagration was finally brought under control, an 80-block area of downtown Baltimore had been destroyed, causing more than $150 million in damage — in 1904 dollars. The city's newspapers, which were located downtown for easy access to governing institutions, were hard-hit, including the five-story Italian palace at Baltimore and South streets known as the Sun Iron Building. The much-admired edifice had been the first structure in the U.S. to use cast-iron beams and columns, and they framed row after row of gleaming glass windows. The Iron Building was abandoned 12 hours after the fire broke out, as embers fell on the roof. A chartered train took editors and printers south to the Washington Star, which had volunteered the use of its offices and presses. The Sun was distributed the next morning on schedule from the Camden station. Baltimore Sun: Making news articles.baltimoresun.com There's a fallacy that reporters detest being in the spotlight. If that were really true, articles w... View Post on Facebook · Edit Email Settings · Reply to this email to add a comment.