The Forgotten Fire


The deadliest fire in the history of the United States occurred in a town you probably never heard of. On October 8th, 1871, Peshtigo, Wisconsin was totally consumed by fire, and over 1,200 people died. The fire was not widely reported in the press, because the Great Chicago Fire (October 8-10) got the headlines. Read a harrowing account of the Peshtigo fire at Damn Interesting. Link

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I remeber learning about this. and i always tell people whe i get a chance that thier was two great fires, chicago and Pestigo...and both were said to have been started by a clumsy cow
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I'd never even heard of this one.

It seems quite a few cities have a "great fire" in their histories. Stands to reason, though, seeing that most buildings were made out of wood in the olden days.
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