The Great
Salem Fire of 1914 started on June 25 at 1:37 PM, following a long June dry spell at the Korn Leather Factory at 57 Boston Street. The fire started in a shed at street level where acetone, amalacitate, alcohol and large quantities of celluloid were stored. It burned 253 acres and 1,376 buildings, the territory covered being 1 1/2 miles long by 1/2 mile wide. It resulted in almost 20,000 people made homeless and 10,000 put out of work.
This collection of historical photographs from the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum pieces together the determination with which Salem confronted the sweeping desolation of the 1914 fire.
Background Information
Salem, Massachusetts, was an early settlement in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, best remembered today for the witch trials of 1692.