A modern day Pike/Pine superimposed over the scene as captured by the Seattle Times in 1925 (Image: Seattle Times November 1, 1925, page 1 and Rob Ketcherside)

Originally written by Robert Ketcherside for CHS — Dec, 2015 — On Halloween 95 years ago, Capitol Hill burned. We first published this account of the Great Automobile Row Fire of 1925 a few years back. An updated take on the huge fire and the way it changed the neighborhood is below.

The Great Automobile Row started at 6:30 PM on Saturday, October 31st — Halloween night — on the southeast corner of Pine and 11th.

A witness across the street where Richmark Label is today described the scene to a Seattle Times reporter, and her words made print the next morning:

“We were sitting close to our front window when the explosion rocked our walls,” said Mrs. [C. T.] Dawson. “We looked out and saw a dense cloud of smoke pouring from the Miller-Norton building.

“The whole building was sheeted in flame, and we saw clouds of sparks falling on nearby buildings.”

Your mental image needs calibration. There was no daylight savings time in 1925. So, the sun set before 5 PM that Halloween. The fire raged in the dark, in a city with much weaker streetlights than we have today, with comparatively little light pollution. The city was much, much lower. The Seattle Times declared, “The fire made a red glow in the sky which could be seen from downtown and drew hundreds to the scene.”

You know how any fire draws a crowd. This turned into a huge fire, destroying several buildings and damaging others. The crowd on that dry night was huge, as the Seattle Times related the next morning: Continue reading →