SouveniF^ooK 
 
 of 
 
 The Great Chelsea Fire 
 
 April 12, 1908. 
 
 CONTAINING THIRTY-FOUR VIEWS OF THE BURNED 
 
 DISTRICT AND PROMINENT BUILDINGS. 
 
 ALSO A DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH. 
 
 Copyright, 1908, By The N. E. Paper & Stationery Co. 
 
 Manufacturers of Souvenir Post Cards and View Books, 
 
 Boston and Ayer, Mass. 
 
 I 
 
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS! 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 SPECIAC 
 COLLECTIONS 
 
 F 
 Ik 
 
 C5S6 
 1908 
 
THe Great CHelsea Fire 
 
 On Sunday April 12. 1908, at about 11 o'clock A. M., an alarm was rung in 
 for a lire in the works of the Boston Blacking Co. on West 3rd St., near the Everett line. 
 The fire department responded immediately antl succeeded in putting out the lire with 
 but very little damage, but the forty-mile gale that \\as blowing at the time carried sparks 
 from the fire to nearby houses, and soon all the frame buildings in that vicinity were 
 ablaze. The fiie then traveled v\ ith gitat rapidity in an easterly direction, and despite 
 tiie best efforts of the depaitrr.ent, was soon beyond control. Aid was called in from 
 nearby cities, but even the largely increased force was unable to cope with the fire, and 
 and could only endeavor to keep it within certain limits. So intense was the heat that 
 buildings made of solid granite crumbled, and were entirely destroyed. The fire could 
 not be checked in its easterlv course, and in a short time had traveled across the city and 
 was stopped only by the Mystic River at the East Boston line. Almost the entire 
 business section on Broadway was destroyed, the northern boundary of the fire on Broad- 
 way being the Boston & Maine R. R. tracks, and the southern boundary Chelsea Square. 
 Between these two points on Broadway almost all the retail business of city was done. 
 Among the more piominent public buildings that were destroyed are the City Hall, 
 Y. M. C. A. Building, Odd Fellows Building, Chelsea Savings Bank and County Tiust 
 Co. buildings. The number of buildings destroyed is estimated at about loUU, while 
 between 10,000 and 12,000 people were rendered homeless. 
 
No sooner had the awful havoc that the fire had wrought hecome known, than 
 rehef funds were started all over the country, and many of the cities and towns in Mass- 
 achusetts gave substantial amounts tor the relief of the stricken city. 
 
 Within two weeks after the fire, Lee Higginson & Co., who were financial agents 
 for the official relief committee had received almost $300,000, and many thousands of 
 dollars more were given directly b\ employers of the burnt-out families, and by fraternal 
 organizations sudh as Knights of Columbus, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Elks, 
 Ea<^les and many others, almost all of which established relief headquarters at once 
 The central relief committee immediately opened relief stations at the new High School 
 building and at Lincoln Hall, and thousands were fed at these two places daily. 
 
 By Tuesday, great quantities of clothing had been received for distribution, and a 
 receiving station was established at Keany Sq. Boston, where contributions of clothing 
 and household goods were received. 
 
 On Wednesday a large number of people were furnished with cooking utensils 
 and mattresses, and by the end of the week thousands of sets of bed-clotliing had been 
 distributed. 
 
 In response to a call from the relief committee, hundreds of autoinobiles offered 
 their services in delivering goods to the homeless, and the work of relief was greatly 
 aided by this means. 
 
^v 
 
 
 B i't.S^' 
 
Looking up Eitat^^a^ (rem Ihiid Slucl. TKe hurl oUhc lusintss CisUicl. 
 
3 ^ 
 
 
lookinc l-o^oard Everett Ave. from rear of Knishls; of Columbus Hall.sho'oJing Congregational and Univcrsalisl 
 Churches and Chel<;ea Trust Co Building. 
 
Looking do>>)n E>3cren AnJc. from Chestnut Street, another ^\f^ of the congested district. 
 
2 
 
Cherr>; Street from Everett Avenue. 
 
Bcllingham Hill from Chester A>Jc. This hill >)Jas Ihc site of man^^ fine residences 
 
All that remains of the residential section on Chester Ave. 
 

Bdlingham Station, BroadvJa^ 
 
Ruins of Ihe ^^7illiams School, 'Walnut Street. 
 
Ruins of Ci^^? Hall and C\\^ Hall 
 School, Central Avenue. 
 
Ruins of the Shurtleff School, Essck Street, This ^>Jas a magnificent granite structure, bnt the 
 stone of vJhich it >30as built >)Jas crumbled b^ the great heat of the fire. 
 
 
 flr^*r^:t- li 
 
 i ■ ■iliiiifriil ■ itlii 
 
 
 >»">«. 
 
Wreck of a L^nn Fire Engine, ^hich had to be abandoned 
 
Ruins of SI. Rose Catholic Church, 
 Broad^)Oa^il, Chelsea. Mass. After 
 the big fire of April 12, 1908. 
 

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First Baptist Church and Cit^ Hall, Central A>3e. , 
 
Filj Public Librar^;, destroyed in the Big Fire. 
 
Birdse^e ViexjJ of Chelsea, Mass. from Po^derhorn Hill. The entire district shON>3n in this >3ie^ vJith 
 [he CKception of the houses in the immediate foreground ^as entirely destro^jied in the Big Fire 
 
Chelsea Square. The nearer end of Ih's square marks Ihe southern limit of the fire on BroadwaN^ 
 
A list o< the more prominent buildings destroyed bjr the fire is given below, although this does not 
 by any means include a complete list of the public or semi-public structures that were burned. 
 
 CHURCHES 
 
 Central Congregational Church 
 
 St. Rose Catholic 
 
 First Universalist 
 
 First Unitarian 
 
 First Baptist 
 
 Polish Catholic 
 
 Btilingham M. E. 
 
 St. Luke's Episcopal 
 
 Several Synagogues 
 
 SCHOOLS 
 Williams Grammar 
 Frank B. Fay 
 Shurtlefif 
 Bellingham 
 Broadway 
 
 Highland 
 QtyHall 
 
 Shawmut St. 
 
 Parochial 
 
 PROMINENT BLDGS. 
 CityHaU 
 
 Y. M. C A. Building 
 Odd Fellows Building 
 Chelsea Trust Co. 
 Chelsea Saving Bank 
 Granite Block 
 State Armory 
 Public Library 
 County Savings Bank