Great Portland Fire of 1866



Locations
Participants

Timeline

Y/M/D Description Place
1866/07/01 HWL writes a friend: I have left the little girls in Portland, where I passed a day or two with them and among other things had a sail down Casco bay through the wooded islands and wished you were there. Peaks Island, Maine
1866/07/04 A fire starts in a boat house near today's Hobsons Pier on Commercial Street, likely caused by a firecracker or a cigar ash. Waterfront Portland, ME,
1866/07/04 The Curtis family lose their home in the Great Fire of Portland, causing Cyrus to leave high school.
1866/07/05 The Great fire burns out, devastating the city of Portland, Maine. 1,800 buildings are destroyed and 10,000 residents were left homeless. Portland, ME, Maine
1866/07/06 Immediately after the fire, the Portland's City Council appoints a committee to "consider the expediency of buying land somewhere within the limits of the burnt district for a public square or park", hoping it would serve as a firebreak in the next fire. Lincoln Park, Portland, ME
1866/07/23 After visiting Portland, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow writes to a friend, "I have been in Portland since the fire. Desolation! Desolation! Desolation! It reminds me of Pompeii, the sepult city." He will donate $200 dollars to the sufferers. Portland, ME, Maine

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