Great Boston Fire of 1711

Fire was a major threat to Boston in its early history. The first recorded outbreak took place as early as 1630–31, and fires were a regular feature of town life in the following decades. Wood was generally the most common material used for houses in the early settlement, and as Boston grew in density it became easy for conflagrations to spread from house to house and even level significant sections of the town.^[1] Several "great" fires of particular significance occurred in this period, including in 1653, 1676, 1679, 1682, and 1691,^[2] although these would subsequently be eclipsed by the fire of 1711, which thereafter became known as "the" great fire.^[3]

Given the ever-present danger of fire, colonial and town authorities repeatedly enacted measures in an attempt to mitigate future major outbreaks. In 1679, the General Court passed its first building regulation by mandating that any new dwelling in the town be of stone or brick and covered with slate or tile, unless the builder received an exemption by the selectmen to use other materials. In 1683, the legislature passed a more stringent code which extended the regulation of building materials to any new "dwelling-house, warehouse, shop, barn, stable, or any other housing" in Boston, although in the following year it allowed for any small building less than eight feet in length and seven feet tall to be made of wood.^[4] Despite these provisions, however, wooden buildings remained predominant well into the eighteenth century;^[5] as late as 1722, for example, a survey found that approximately two-thirds of Boston's nearly 3,000 houses were made of timber.^[6] Several laws and acts were also passed to prevent chimney fires, provide for ladders, fire engines, gunpowder, and water for firefighters, and restrict the use of incendiary materials.^[7]

At around 7:00 on the evening of October 2, 1711, a fire broke out at a small tenement located in a backyard off Cornhill (now Washington Street). A Scottish woman named Mary Morse was handling oakum when it was ignited by a nearby flame, and the burning material quickly became uncontrollable.^[8]

The fire soon spread throughout central Boston, which was at the time the most thickly settled and wealthiest part of the town, being filled with both dwellings and stores. Leaping from property to property, it destroyed both sides of Cornhill; from there it made its way southwest to School Street and northeast to Dock Square. A substantial portion of Pudding Lane (now Devonshire Street) was devastated, as were both sides of the upper portions of King (now State) and Queen (now Court) Streets.^[9]

Lieutenant Governor William Tailer, who arrived in town the next day, reported that the fire was visible from twenty leagues' distance. The blaze was finally brought under control by 2:00 on the morning of October 3, by which time a considerable portion of the business district had been burnt.^[10]

The fire destroyed approximately one hundred houses and rendered 110 families homeless. It consumed the post office as well as two of the town's most prominent properties: the Town House (built 1658), which served as the seat of the provincial and town governments, and the old Meeting House (built 1640) of Boston's First Church. The printing office of John Allen on Pudding Lane, which was responsible for publishing The Boston News-Letter, was likewise ruined. The fire also burned through many shops and destroyed their inventories, resulting in "not a little of the wealth of the town [being] consumed."^[12]

Several deaths are known to have occurred, although the exact number is unknown. A group of sailors had ascended to the steeple of the old meeting house in an attempt to save its bell, but the fire cut off their escape path and they fell in when the roof collapsed; their remains were later recovered from the debris. Many more were killed from venturing too far into the fire or from the use of gunpowder to blow up homes in order to create firebreaks, and "strangers belonging to the vessels" were also believed to have added to the number perished. Several people were also wounded and later succumbed from their injuries.^[13]