The Chelsea Fire of 1908 version 2

An Account of the Great Chelsea Fire: April 12, 1908

Article from The Chelsea Gazette April 18, 1908

The Chelsea Gazette was a Home Town Newspaper located at 126 Winnisimmet Street in Chelsea. It was published every Saturday by John E. Beck who was, coincidentally, the mayor of the city at the time of the fire. It is amazing to think that even though the fire destroyed the building housing The Chelsea Gazette, the paper published on time, the Saturday after the fire.

Dear Old Chelsea
I've just been back in Chelsea, Bill,
I've seen a city new,
The place has changed so greatly.
Its made me fearfully blue.
Familiar scenes are missing, Bill,
The fire, don't you know,
It altered almost everything,
Some twenty years ago.

-Walter Merriam Pratt 1928

It is ten a.m., Palm Sunday morning, April 12, 1908. A fire has begun to stir on Second Street near the Everett line. Before this fire meets its death, it will have destroyed hundreds of acres of land, thousands of residences and taken with it Chelsea as we know it. The statistics are appalling: 2,822 buildings, 492 acres of land, 19 deaths and sixteen thousand Chelsea residents left homeless.

The fire began when workmen had spread out rags to dry on Second Street and in some way, whether a careless match or intentional act, the rags ignited. The high, galeforce winds carried these ignited rags 200 feet to the McKay Wax Shop, which is part of the Boston Blacking Company. As the firemen were dousing this blaze, a second fire of suspicious origin began in Levitsky's Rag Shop in the Third, Elm and Maple Street block. This building was soon a mass of flames and the fire, fed by the 40-mile-an-hour winds, promised to be a fire of epic proportions.

The fire raged up Everett Avenue through West Third Street, Walnut and all the adjacent streets. Within minutes, the business block on Broadway was a seething mass of flames.

The fire is described in the Chelsea Gazette as "Volcanic."Not only was the fire swift in its destruction, but it was overwhelming in its size and fury. The smoke, the burning embers and the confusion scattered Chesea residents in all directions. The April 18, 1908 edition of The Chelsea Gazette recounts this catastrophic event. "It was a sight to touch the hearts of the most hardened: words cannot begin to express the sorrow and suffering of those whose homes laid in the path of the flames. Families were separated; men, like women, frantic. Many had left their homes in the East Side to watch the progress of the conflagration in the West Side and seeing the fire was sweeping through the heart of the city, returned home only to find their own homes in flames"

The most interesting account of the fire comes from Walter Merriam Pratt in his book, "Seven Generations: A Story of Prattville and Chelsea." Walter lived this catastrophe. His version of the fire gives it a vividness that we just don't get from the statistics and bland accounts.

Walter tells us that the strength of the fire was mindboggling. You would look at a building one moment and it was fine. The next moment, it would "burst into flames and melt away."

People went crazy. One man went into Union Park, pressed a revolver to his head and committed suicide. Another man of extremely disheveled appearance stood on the Washington Avenue bridge and screamed at the passers by that Chelsea needs help. Women, as white as ghosts, were seen walking around clutching things of little value such as a frying pan or a tin-dipper. One man threw 22 pieces of cut glass in a dirty old sheet and carried it for miles. Amazingly enough, nothing was broken. A woman was seen running from the flames with a marble bust in one arm and the family dog in the other. She carried the dog so tightly that the poor creature couldn't walk for days.

The most eerie account of all is the one involving the player-piano. Two men tried to rescue this piano from the flames, when the cloth in the back of the instrument caught on fire. Weirdly, the piano began to play, "There'll Be A Hot time in the Old Town Tonight." The piano continued to play this tune as all the surrounding buildings were engulfed in flames.

The scary thing about the fire is the fact that people didn't know where to go. Everything seemed to be consumed by the flames. Running to safety often meant greeting another phalanges of the blaze. Walter Pratt tells us that some of the people huddled in the Garden Cemetery. They crouched low to the ground only to be strangled by the smoke and bitten by the hot, burning embers. Other people ran to the marshlands in hope that the water would provide them refuge from the blaze. Walter Pratt joined these people and recounts: We fled down the hill (Mount Bellingham) in the direction of Orient Heights. Hundreds were going the same way; poor and rich were on equal terms. The wind blew with such force that women were blown into fences and trees or lost thier balance and fell. Great pieces of furniture went bounding end over end down the hill, blown by the wind. Horses were runnmg away, and the scene was one of terrifying confusion. Escape was possible only by enduring the hostile breath of flames, running, tripping over abandoned furniture in the blinding, sickening smoke, toward the marshes to the northeast; there, although safe from flames, the refugees suffered from the hailstorm of stones and showers of blazing embers that fell upon them, burning holes in their clothes and starting grass fires in every direction. The many horses set loose on the marsh endangered lives. The wails of the frantic parents vainly searching for their children added to the excitement.

Before dusk the fire was over. Within its short hours, it had eaten up three-quarters of the city. Brick buildings, thought to be invincible, were gone. Elegant mansions with opulent furnishings were taken by the flames and were never to be seen again. Churches, synagogues and storefronts were reduced to heaps and heaps of smoldering rubble. The beautiful shade trees, full of spring's new leaves, were now charred, black fingers reaching up into the smoky air.

The tragedy of this fire was not only the nineteen lives it took but that it destroyed a city that took hundreds of years to build. Imposing, irreplaceable architecture was reduced to charred ruins. Of the sixteen thousand people rendered homeless by the fire, many decided to leave Chelsea altogether. Hence, the old neighborhoods were to be replaced by new ones peopled with strangers from other towns.

This fire claimed to be the third largest in the country in terms of area. 2822 buildings were destroyed. 708 shade trees were engulfed in flames. A total of 492 acres were ravaged by this horrible fire. The loss was appalling. 17 million dollars in property was destroyed. 19 people were killed while 16 thousand Chelsea residents were left homeless. 75 people were listed as missing or left unaccounted for. This fire changed the face of Chelsea forever,

In its vicious and unrelenting grasp, it laid waste to three-quarters of this precious city. Lavish homes, lush parks and booming businesses were reduced to dust and ashes. Sixteen thousand Chelsea residents found their lives in limbo, rendered homeless by the blaze. Only with fierce determination and abounding spirit would Chelsea rebuild.

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1973 Fire Story

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An Account of the Great Chelsea Fire: April 12, 1908
Article from The Chelsea Gazette April 18, 1908 The Chelsea Gazette was a Home Town Newspaper located at 126 Winnisimmet Street in Chelsea. It was published every Saturday by John E. Beck who was, coincidentally, the mayor of the city at the time of the fire. It is amazing to think that even though the fire destroyed the building housing The Chelsea Gazette, the paper published on time, the Saturday after the fire. *Dear Old Chelsea* I've just been back in Chelsea, Bill, I've seen a city new, The place has changed so greatly. Its made me fearfully blue. Familiar scenes are missing, Bill, The fire, don't you know, It altered almost everything, Some twenty years ago. -Walter Merriam Pratt 1928 It is ten a.m., Palm Sunday morning, April 12, 1908. A fire has begun to stir on Second Street near the Everett line. Before this fire meets its death, it will have destroyed hundreds of acres of land, thousands of residences and taken with it Chelsea as we know it. The statistics are appalling: 2,822 buildings, 492 acres of land, 19 deaths and sixteen thousand Chelsea residents left homeless. The fire began when workmen had spread out rags to dry on Second Street and in some way, whether a careless match or intentional act, the rags ignited. The high, galeforce winds carried these ignited rags 200 feet to the McKay Wax Shop, which is part of the Boston Blacking Company. As the firemen were dousing this blaze, a second fire of suspicious origin began in Levitsky's Rag Shop in the Third, Elm and Maple Street block. This building was soon a mass of flames and the fire, fed by the 40-mile-an-hour winds, promised to be a fire of epic proportions. The fire raged up Everett Avenue through West Third Street, Walnut and all the adjacent streets. Within minutes, the business block on Broadway was a seething mass of flames. The fire is described in the Chelsea Gazette as "Volcanic."Not only was the fire swift in its destruction, but it was overwhelming in its size and fury. The smoke, the burning embers and the confusion scattered Chesea residents in all directions. The April 18, 1908 edition of The Chelsea Gazette recounts this catastrophic event. "It was a sight to touch the hearts of the most hardened: words cannot begin to express the sorrow and suffering of those whose homes laid in the path of the flames. Families were separated; men, like women, frantic. Many had left their homes in the East Side to watch the progress of the conflagration in the West Side and seeing the fire was sweeping through the heart of the city, returned home only to find their own homes in flames" The most interesting account of the fire comes from Walter Merriam Pratt in his book, "Seven Generations: A Story of Prattville and Chelsea." Walter lived this catastrophe. His version of the fire gives it a vividness that we just don't get from the statistics and bland accounts. Walter tells us that the strength of the fire was mindboggling. You would look at a building one moment and it was fine. The next moment, it would "burst into flames and melt away." People went crazy. One man went into Union Park, pressed a revolver to his head and committed suicide. Another man of extremely disheveled appearance stood on the Washington Avenue bridge and screamed at the passers by that Chelsea needs help. Women, as white as ghosts, were seen walking around clutching things of little value such as a frying pan or a tin-dipper. One man threw 22 pieces of cut glass in a dirty old sheet and carried it for miles. Amazingly enough, nothing was broken. A woman was seen running from the flames with a marble bust in one arm and the family dog in the other. She carried the dog so tightly that the poor creature couldn't walk for days. The most eerie account of all is the one involving the player-piano. Two men tried to rescue this piano from the flames, when the cloth in the back of the instrument caught on fire. Weirdly, the piano began to play, "There'll Be A Hot time in the Old Town Tonight." The piano continued to play this tune as all the surrounding buildings were engulfed in flames. The scary thing about the fire is the fact that people didn't know where to go. Everything seemed to be consumed by the flames. Running to safety often meant greeting another phalanges of the blaze. Walter Pratt tells us that some of the people huddled in the Garden Cemetery. They crouched low to the ground only to be strangled by the smoke and bitten by the hot, burning embers. Other people ran to the marshlands in hope that the water would provide them refuge from the blaze. Walter Pratt joined these people and recounts: We fled down the hill (Mount Bellingham) in the direction of Orient Heights. Hundreds were going the same way; poor and rich were on equal terms. The wind blew with such force that women were blown into fences and trees or lost thier balance and fell. Great pieces of furniture went bounding end over end down the hill, blown by the wind. Horses were runnmg away, and the scene was one of terrifying confusion. Escape was possible only by enduring the hostile breath of flames, running, tripping over abandoned furniture in the blinding, sickening smoke, toward the marshes to the northeast; there, although safe from flames, the refugees suffered from the hailstorm of stones and showers of blazing embers that fell upon them, burning holes in their clothes and starting grass fires in every direction. The many horses set loose on the marsh endangered lives. The wails of the frantic parents vainly searching for their children added to the excitement. Before dusk the fire was over. Within its short hours, it had eaten up three-quarters of the city. Brick buildings, thought to be invincible, were gone. Elegant mansions with opulent furnishings were taken by the flames and were never to be seen again. Churches, synagogues and storefronts were reduced to heaps and heaps of smoldering rubble. The beautiful shade trees, full of spring's new leaves, were now charred, black fingers reaching up into the smoky air. The tragedy of this fire was not only the nineteen lives it took but that it destroyed a city that took hundreds of years to build. Imposing, irreplaceable architecture was reduced to charred ruins. Of the sixteen thousand people rendered homeless by the fire, many decided to leave Chelsea altogether. Hence, the old neighborhoods were to be replaced by new ones peopled with strangers from other towns. This fire claimed to be the third largest in the country in terms of area. 2822 buildings were destroyed. 708 shade trees were engulfed in flames. A total of 492 acres were ravaged by this horrible fire. The loss was appalling. 17 million dollars in property was destroyed. 19 people were killed while 16 thousand Chelsea residents were left homeless. 75 people were listed as missing or left unaccounted for. This fire changed the face of Chelsea forever, In its vicious and unrelenting grasp, it laid waste to three-quarters of this precious city. Lavish homes, lush parks and booming businesses were reduced to dust and ashes. Sixteen thousand Chelsea residents found their lives in limbo, rendered homeless by the blaze. Only with fierce determination and abounding spirit would Chelsea rebuild.









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Chelsea Historical Society	1908 Fire Pictures page 1	1908 Fire Pictures page 2
	1973 Fire Story	1973 Fire Pictures