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1879 Parker, Pennsylvania fire disaster...
1879 Parker, Pennsylvania fire disaster...
Item # 719663
October 31, 1879
CLEVELAND WEEKLY HERALD, Oct. 31, 1879
* Parker, Pennsylvania fire disaster
* Oil City of Allegheny "Boomtown"
The top of the front page has a one column heading: "BIG FIRE" with subhead. (see images)
Complete with 8 pages, light toning at the margins, good condition.
AI notes: In 1879, Parker, Pennsylvania—once a bustling boomtown known as the “Oil City of the Allegheny”—was devastated by a massive fire that swept through its riverfront district, destroying between 80 and 83 buildings in a single night. The blaze spread rapidly through the city’s wooden structures, which had been hastily erected during the oil boom, and was made worse by the presence of petroleum storage and limited firefighting resources. Entire blocks of businesses, including hotels, shops, and even a newspaper office, were reduced to ashes, and much of the waterfront was never rebuilt. Coming at a time when local oil wells were already declining, the disaster dealt a final blow to Parker’s prosperity: its population collapsed from tens of thousands at its peak to barely a thousand within a decade, marking the end of its brief prominence as a major oil town.
Category: Post-Civil War
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