1853 Great Shasta Fire

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A June 14, 1853 fire that devastated the town of Shasta in less than an hour. As a result of the fire, Main Street was widened and rebuilt mostly in brick.

Contemporary Account

Here is an account of the fire that appeared in the June 18, 1853 Shasta Courier^[1].

TERRIBLE CONFLAGRATION!!!
SHASTA IN ASHES—LOSS ESTIMATED AT
HALF A MILLION DOLLARS

On Tuesday afternoon last, at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, a fire broke out in Shasta, which consumed almost the whole town before it was checked. It was discovered issuing from an unoccupied building, known as the Parker House; but the alarm was not given until the whole interior of the upper story, and a portion of the lower story, were in flames. As soon as the position of the fire, and the headway which it had obtained, were ascertained, the conclusion became universal that the destruction of the entire business portion of the town would be inevitable. But little resistance was therefore attempted, and that little was futile, until the fire had almost entirely spent its force, and had reached a section sparcely[sic] built.

The Parker House was situated in the eastern portion of the town, on the south side. The fire extended rapidly east, burning a saddler's shop, a beer house, Daigh's building, occupied for law offices, a milliner's shop, and a jewelry establishment, where a number of vacant lots checked its progress. Towards the west the conflagration spread with equal rapidity, burning towards Adams & Co's and Cram, Rogers & Co's Express office, Tomlinson's store, and the Globe Hotel. In the meantime the buildings on the north side of the street caught fire, and Talbot & Seaton's store, Gibson's Shasta Hotel, Goodwin & York's bowling saloon, the Woodcock, (vacant) the St. Louis House, John Moll's Kossuth House, the Bee-Hive bakery, the Billiard saloon, a vacant house, Willis' Oak Tree House, and Walsh's store were soon in flames.

From this point the fire proceeded towards the west end of town, consuming the buildings on both sides of the street in its course. On the south side the following places of business were burned, so rapidly that but little property was rescued from destruction. Shurtleff's Drug Store, Bull, Baker & Co.'s general grocery Store, Cigar Store, Clothing Store, Barber Shop, St. Charles Hotel, kept by Grotefend & Call, Jacobson's Clothing Store, Ruder's Meat Market, Hollub & Isaac's Clothing Store, Morton's Tin & Stove Shop, two Clothing Stores, Harrington & Doll's General Grocery Store, Roman's Book Store, Stevenson's Provision Store, Roethe's Drug Store, Mayer & Corney's Market, Plummer & Mitchell's Grocery and Provision Store, Downer's Grocery & Provision Store, two vacant houses, Madam Gavand's Restaurant, Sheriff's office, Trinity House, Jane's House, Callahan's house and a log house.

On the north side of the street, after burning Walsh's Store House, the following places of business were consumed: 1 blacksmith shop, Coney's Clothing Store, Carman's Carpenter Shop, Chapman & Co's Grocery Store, Todd & Jones' Grocery and Provision Store, 2 clothing stores, 1 kept by Syme, Callahan's Grocery & Provision Store, 1 Clothing store, Macomber's blacksmith shop and dwelling house, El Dorado Hotel, kept by Keene & Fourney, Boucher's Restaurant, Gilbert's dwelling house, Rhodes & Lusk's Express Office, Smith's vacant house, Post Office, Courier office, Sprague's Law Office, Morse's Dentist Office, Masonic Lodge, Empire Hotel, owned by Olendorf & Rand and Loag's two buildings.

70 buildings were consumed, including every Hotel, Store, and Saloon in the town. About 40 buildings remain in our town, consisting mostly of small cottage dwelling houses and a few business houses at either end of town. The value of the buildings is generally estimated at about $100,000, the value of personal property destroyed is estimated at $300,000, making the total loss one-half million of dollars. Many contend that this estimate is considerably below the mark. The sufferers by the fire have neglected to furnish us with their own estimate of individual losses.

References

1. ↑ Boggs, Mae Helene Bacon (1942). My Playground Was A Concord Coach: An Anthology Of Newspaper Clippings And Documents Relating To Those Who Made California History During The Years 1822-1888. Oakland: Howell-North Press.