From Washington To You
Tents and burned ruins on Yesler Way in Seattle after the Great Fire of 1889.
Ruins and tents on Yesler Way after the Great Fire, Seattle, July 1889. Public domain.

From Washington to you

Great Seattle Fire, 1889

Pioneer Square · King County · June 6, 1889

A paint-shop fire at Front and Madison on June 6, 1889, burned for 18 hours, leveled 100 acres, and left the city to rebuild within a year.

Seattle's city archives date the Great Fire to June 6, 1889, at about 2:30 p.m., in a paint shop at Front and Madison. The fire burned for 18 hours and destroyed about 100 acres of the business district. The archives put the loss at about $20 million. Seattle rebuilt within a year, and the population rose about 33 percent.

Seattle City Light's public history of the fire says there were no human fatalities. The photograph shows tents on Yesler Way in July 1889, after the burn.

The fire and statehood landed in the same year. The sources below are the City of Seattle municipal archives and Seattle City Light.

  • History

Sources (2)

Last reviewed: September 20, 2026

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Great Seattle Fire, 1889 · From Washington To You