1858 — Feb 20, Fire, Pacific Hotel, St. Louis, MO                         –21-30

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-8-2025 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

—     50  NYT. “The St. Louis Disaster – Insecurity of our Large Hotels.” 2-23-1858, p. 4.[1]

–21-30  Blanchard estimated fatality range.[2]

—     30  NFPA. “Loss of Life Fires in Hotels.” Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 3, Jan 1942, pp. 247.

—     30  NFPA. “Spreadsheet of 10+ Fatality Fires,” as of 3-15-2013.

—     30  Reedy, William Marion (Ed.). The Makers of St. Louis.  St. Louis, 1906, p. 6.

—     29  NYT. “Dreadful Disaster in St. Louis. The Pacific Hotel Burnt.” 2-22-1858, p. 1.

—     28  Blanchard. People named as fatalities in sources below. (Not viewed as authoritative.)[3]

—     21  Nisinger, Connie. “Pacific Hotel Fire Victims.” Findagrave.com. 3-9-2003.

—     21  Scharf, John Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County (Vol. 2). 1883, p. 1446.

—     20  American Almanac and Repository…1859. “General Events for 1858.” 1859, p. 367.

—   >19  Daily Hawk-Eye, Burlington IA. [St. Louis Hotel Fire]. 2-23-1858, p. 3.[4]

—     19  Lynch, Thomas. The Volunteer Fire Department of St. Louis, 1819-1859. 1880, p. 88.

—   >16  New Albany Daily Tribune, IN. “Dreadful Calamity at St. Louis.” 2-23-1858, p. 3.[5]

Narrative Information

Lynch: “On the morning of February 21, 1858, about one o’clock, an alarm of fire was sounded, every engine in the city responding, guided by the brilliant light of the conflagration, which proved to be the Pacific hotel, kept by Lyons & Strader, a three-story building, 80 feet front on Seventy street by 120 on Poplar, and situated on the N.E. corner. At the time of the breakout out of the flames, which originated in the laundry on the first floor, not quite 100 people were asleep in the house, many of whom had only arrived the evening previous by the Pacific road.  The first floor was occupied by stores, the barber shop and laundry, the hotel proper being on the second and third, with exits on both streets. 

 

“The period of this catastrophe was most unfortunate, taking into consideration the status of the fire department; the paid system struggling for existence and the volunteers sulky and indifferent.  The steam engines of the former were only two in number, the ‘Kyler’ and the ‘Moore,’ the ‘Union’ undergoing alterations, and the latter arriving on the scene as circumstances permitted, the loss of life had in the meantime been consummated.

 

“Men, women and children finding themselves cut off from the stair cases jumped from the windows only to form hideous masses of flesh and bones on the pavement below. The ‘Lafayette hooks’ arrived in time to save many who retained their presence of mind and clung to the building, but the loss of life and property was frightful; the former being fourteen in number, five women, two children and seven men, with thirteen more seriously injured, and the latter footing up $40,000  In spite of the utmost exertions of the firemen the building was reduced to a smouldering mass of ruins.

 

“The city authorities took the matter in hand, appointing a committee to raise funds for the purpose of burying the dead and the amelioration of the condition of the wounded; their efforts securing the handsome sum of $2,600, of which $300 was expended in buying a lot in Bellefontaine and in the interment of twelve of the victims therein, the others being taken in charge by friends.  The balance was expended in the payment of medical attendance on the wounded at the Sisters’ hospital, and in sending them to their homes on convalescence….

 

“Much criminal carelessness was unearthed in the investigation of construction, and its lesson should not have been lost upon the city authorities, yet it was not until after the burning of the Southern[6] that means were enforced for the protection of the public in places ‘where they most do congregate.’” (Lynch, Thomas. “The Burning of the Pacific Hotel.” Pp. 87-88 in The Volunteer Fire Department of St. Louis, 1819-1859. Saint Louis: R. & T.A Ennis, 1880.)

 

National Fire Protection Association. Quarterly. “Loss of Life Fires in Hotels.” 34/3, Jan 1942

“Pacific Hotel, St. Louis, Mo., February 20, 1858. An early morning fire starting in a drug store on the first floor cut off egress by the stairways. Thirty guests were killed and many of the survivors were seriously injured when they jumped from windows.” (National Fire Protection Association. “Loss of Life Fires in Hotels.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 34, No. 3, Jan 1942, p. 247.)

 

NFPA:  “Year…1858…2/20 [mm/dd] …St. Louis…MO…30 [killed]…Hotel.” 

(National Fire Protection Association. “Spreadsheet of 10+ Fatality Fires,” as of 3-15-2013.)

 

Nisinger: “Feb. 20, 1858. The 13-month old, three-story Pacific Hotel was located in downtown St. Louis. It was directly across from the Missouri Pacific passenger depot, hence the name by which it was called. The name was actually the Clarenden Hotel[7] and because of its location, it was mainly used by transients. Although all the records in the hotel were destroyed, it was estimated that 65 people were in the hotel when the fire broke out. Forty-four escaped injury and 21 died. Of the eleven bodies found, only two were identified. All but two of the victims are buried in unmarked graves in the same lot.” (Nisinger, Connie. “Pacific Hotel Fire Victims.” Findagrave.com. 3-9-2003.)

 

Reedy:  “One of the last great fires in which the old volunteer department played a prominent part was that in the Pacific Hotel, in 1858. This structure was located at Seventh and Poplar streets and about one hundred guests and employes were sleeping when the flames broke out at 2 o’clock in the morning. The building was burned to the ground and thirty persons were killed.” (Reedy, William Marion (Ed.). The Makers of St. Louis.  St. Louis: The Mirror, 1906, p. 6.)

 

Scharf: “The Pacific Hotel was completed in January, 1857.  It was located at the corner of Poplar and Seventh Streets, was three stories high, and had a front on Seventh Street of more than eighty feet.  The ground-floor was divided into stores; the second floor contained the office, dining-room and some sleeping apartments; and the third floor was divided into small rooms separated by lath and plaster partitions. The capacity of the house was about one hundred guests. George B. Field, who was the owner, leased the hotel to Daniel W. Strader, who opened it in June following, with Jacob Lyons as his partner. 

 

“Its career was destined to be a short one, and to terminate with the most appalling catastrophe that had ever befallen St. Louis. On the morning of Saturday, Feb. 20, 1858, between three and four o’clock, the building was discovered to be on fire, and before the lodgers on the third floor could be aroused the flames had cut off all means of egress by the stairways. The terrified guests, finding no safety except in leaping to the ground, did so in many instances and escaped more or less injured. So rapid was the spread of the flames, owing to the combustible nature of the building, that many were unable to escape from their rooms. There were about seventy-five persons in the hotel at the time the fire broke out.  Of these forty-four escaped uninjured. The killed numbered nineteen, of whom only ten were identified, as follows:

 

Henry A Rochester and

  1. Hart Strong, of Rochester, N.Y.;

Infant child of J. Jones,

Bruce McNitt,

Paul Steinestel, and

Miss H. Hunter, of St. Louis;

Evans J. Watkins, Columbus, Ohio;

Ephraim Doane, Chicago;

Mrs. H. Hubbard, Boston; and

  1. Wagoner.

 

“James Francis Geary, local reporter of the Leader, and Elihu Hays died on February 24th from injuries received at the fire, making the entire number of deaths twenty-one. 

 

“A meeting of citizens to provide for the burial of the dead and the relief of the wounded was immediately called.  Col. Thornton Grimsley presided, and committees were appointed to provide for the interments and to obtain subscriptions for the survivors.  Twelve of the dead were buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery, their remains being followed to the grave by the largest procession ever seen in St. Louis.  The survivors, so far as they could be discovered, were handsomely cared for and assisted.”  (Scharf, John Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County: From the Earliest Periods to the Present Day (Vol. 2). Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts & Co., 1883, p. 1446.)

 

Newspapers:

 

Feb 20:  “St. Louis, Friday, Feb 20.  The Pacific Hotel, in this place, was burned at 3 o’clock this morning.  Eight or ten persons were killed, and many other seriously injured, by jumping from the windows. It is at present impossible to ascertain the names of the killed and wounded.

 

“Eight O’clock, P.M.  The burning of the Pacific Hotel proves a much more terrible calamity that was reported this morning.  About one hundred persons were in the house when the fire broke out, forty or fifty of whom are missing.  The following are the names of the persons known to be killed, so far [29]:

 

Messers. Bruce,

McKnite,

Buckheart,

Worst,

Paul,

Sterrett,

Mrs. Jenny Jones and

Child – all of St. Louis

Mr. Johnson, of Chicago.

Henry Rochester and

  1. H. Hart Strong, of Rochester, N. Y

Mr. Wm. Saunders,

Mr. Taylor,

Geo. Crane, and

Miss Jones – residence unknown

Charles Davis.

Wm. Cunningham, of the Terre Haute and Alton Railroad.

Mr. Hubbard and

Mrs. Hubbard.

Also nine persons in one room, whose names are unknown, and

a negro boy….

 

“The fire caught in the drug-store under the hotel, and spread so rapidly that the stairways were enveloped in flames before the inmates could be roused.  All egress was thus cut off except through the windows. Many leaped from the third story, and were horribly mangled or instantly killed, and many more were unable even to reach the windows, and were burned to death in their own rooms.  Several more bodies are supposed to be in the ruins, and hundreds of excited men are energetically engaged in removing the rubbish and searching for them.

 

“The wounded were promptly taken charge of by their friends, or sent to the hospital, where their injuries were immediately attended to. Several of the wounded cannot possibly recover. The loss of property is upwards of $50,000.” (New York Times. “Dreadful Disaster in St. Louis. The Pacific Hotel Burnt – Twenty-nine Persons Killed, Six Seriously Injured, and Forty or Fifty Missing.” 1-22-1858, p. 1.)

 

Feb 22:  “St. Louis, Feb. 22.  In the confusion and excitement some errors crept into our account of the burning of the Pacific Hotel, as telegraphed Saturday.  The loss of life is not so great. The names of those positively known to be among the dead are as follows [19]: 

 

Henry H. Rochester and

Thomas H. Strong, of Rochester, N.Y.,

  1. M. Gregg,

Chas. Davis,

Wm. Cunningham,

George A. Crane,

Evan J. Watkins,

Johnson, of Mich.,

Ephram Doone, Chicago.

Miss Hunter, missing, supposed to be dead.

Bruce,

Mekitt,

Bunkhart,

Hurst,

Paul,

Stirrille,

Wm. Taylor,

  1. Wagner, and

Dr. Lord, Cincinnati.

 

“Some bodies were taken out of the ruins so burned that they cannot be identified…

 

“Several committees of citizens were formed yesterday to collect means to supply the wants of the destitute, and furnish attendance for the wounded, and to provide for the obsequies of the dead.  The funeral of those not identified takes place on Wednesday. Other bodies are supposed to be in the ruins.  Vigorous search is still being made.”  (Daily Hawk-Eye, Burlington IA. [St. Louis Hotel Fire]. 2-23-1858, p. 3.)

 

Feb 23:  “Seldom does there occur so startling a calamity as the burning of the Pacific Hotel at St. Louis, on Friday morning last. At 3 o’clock A. M., when the inmates were asleep, the fatal elements swept through the lower portion of the edifice, cutting off all means of escape from fifty persons, who perished, either in their rooms or by desperately leaping from upper windows.

 

“It is not enough that we should deplore such a disaster; a lesson also should be learned. Of late much has been said upon the hazards of school-houses and public halls in case of fire; and some valuable improvements in the means of egress have been the result.  Is there no need of improving hotels in anticipation of fire? Are not the hundreds of lodgers which they contain, when asleep in upper stories and in unfamiliar buildings, in peril at least as great as the occupants of school or lecture-rooms? 

 

“Our people have a passion for “mammoth” hotels. When an old one is to be eclipsed a larger must be built. A more extensive front and more numerous chambers bear the palm.  So shall it invariably happen that the traveler will go to the hotel which is newest and largest.  There may be a dozen excellent houses of smaller dimensions; they fail to attract him. Size is what he Cares for. Accordingly, the porter of the “Universal Hotel” receives his carpet bag. What though it be crowded so that his dormitory must be on the sixth floor, scarcely larger than a coffin, and reached through no end of tortuous passages?  Does he not dine with five hundred others, in the “immense ordinary?”  Are not his letters ornamented with an engraving of the magnificent edifice?”  What though he might have been more comfortable at a smaller establishment! Would he have been so distinguished?  And who shall say he does not receive the worth of his money?

 

“But, while asleep in his little bedroom near the roof, the fearful cry of Fire is heard. He starts up in alarm. To his despair he recollects that he can no more find his way through all the stairs and halls leading to the outer door than he could thread the intricacies of a tropical forest. We need not pursue the sad and fatal story. It is written in the history of the Pacific Hotel conflagration at St. Louis.

 

“Probably it were vain to recommend comfort, safety and economy in the matter of hotels to the American traveling community.  But in the construction of those vast buildings in which our people delight, would it not be well to provide for the safety of lodgers in case of fire in the night?  Let there be means for instantly awakening and for speedy escape. What these means should be, are questions of detail for architects and builders, the solution of which cannot be difficult.”  (New York Times. “The St. Louis Disaster – Insecurity of our Large Hotels.” 2-23-1858, p. 4.)

 

Feb 23:  “A fearful loss of life was occasioned by the burning of the Pacific Hotel, at St. Louis on Friday night. The fire commenced in a drug store in the first story, and the flames spread with…fearful rapidity… At noon yesterday sixteen bodies had been recovered from the ruins and recognized. Many others had been taken out but so badly burned so not to be identified. The extent of the loss of human life is not yet entirely known…” (New Albany Daily Tribune, IN. “Dreadful Calamity at St. Louis.” 2-23-1858, p. 3.)

 

Sources

 

American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1859. Boston: Crosby, Nichols, and Co., London, 1859. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=BlITAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Daily Hawk-Eye, Burlington IA. [St. Louis Hotel Fire]. 2-23-1858, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=136869786&sterm=pacific+hotel

 

Lynch, Thomas. “The Burning of the Pacific Hotel.” Pp. 87-88 in The Volunteer Fire Department of St. Louis, 1819-1859. Saint Louis: R. & T.A Ennis, 1880. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=T2VHAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

National Fire Protection Association. “Loss of Life Fires in Hotels.” Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association, Vol. 34, No. 3, Jan 1942, pp. 247-257.

 

National Fire Protection Association. Spreadsheet on Large Loss of Life Fires (as of Feb 2003). (Email attachment to B. W. Blanchard from Jacob Ratliff, NFPA Archivist/Taxonomy Librarian, 7-8-2013.)

 

New Albany Daily Tribune, IN. “Dreadful Calamity at St. Louis.” 2-23-1858, p. 3. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=192860516&sterm=pacific+hotel

 

New York Times. “Dreadful Disaster in St. Louis. The Pacific Hotel Burnt – Twenty-nine Persons Killed, Six Seriously Injured, and Forty or Fifty Missing.” 2-22-1858, p. 1. At: http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30F16FE3E581B7493C0AB1789D85F4C8584F9

 

New York Times. “The St. Louis Disaster – Insecurity of our Large Hotels,” 2-23-1858, p. 4. At: http://newspaperarchive.com/fullpagepdfviewer?img=5770059&sterm=pacific+hotel

 

Nisinger, Connie. “Pacific Hotel Fire Victims.” Findagrave.com. 3-9-2003. Accessed 3-16-2013 at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7248710

 

Reedy, William Marion (Ed.). The Makers of St. Louis. St. Louis: Issued by The Mirror, 1906, p. 6. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=tgsvAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Scharf, John Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County: From the Earliest Periods to the Present Day (Vol. 2). Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts & Co., 1883. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=lIk6AQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Not used – we view as out of keeping with other reports by a wide margin.

[2] We are not using the early low and high newspaper reports, noting 16 and 50 fatalities. Have been unable to judge from sources consuled what the exact loss of life was. Thus we resort to what we view as a reasonable range,  using Nisinger and Scharf for the low figure and the NFPA and Reedy for the high.

[3] Such listings found in newspaper articles then and later are often notoriously inaccurate.

[4] Nineteen identified dead, as well as “other bodies” not identifiable.

[5] Sixteen identified dead, as well as “others…not to be identified.”

[6] Southern Hotel, 1877, thirteen fatalities.

[7] We have not seen this claim in any other reporting.