Stopping
the Flames
Through
your investigation of the photograph and the description
of early Denver, you probably determined that early
Western cities were highly flammable
for a number of reasons.
First
among these was the fact that most buildings were constructed
of wood. Another reason you might have thought of
is that buildings were built very close to each other,
so close that a cat could not even fit between them!
The quotation also mentions that people covered their
walls with cloth to make them seem nicer, and like wood,
cloth can be highly flammable. The fact that most
people used candles to light their homes in the evening
and fires to cook by also contributed to conditions
in which fires could ignite very quickly. Finally,
fires were especially devastating for communities like
Denver because most young Western communities did not
have professional fire departments. Volunteer
fire departments, called “ bucket brigades,” existed
but were not well trained and were highly disorganized.
After the Great
Denver fire in 1863, many citizens began lobbying for
the creation of a fire department that could respond
to fire alarms and protect both residents and buildings,
preserving them for continued use. Click
here to read about the history of the Denver Fire Department
.
Also, immediately
following the fire, the city council, which governed
Denver , approved a law called the “Brick
Ordinance” on April 20, 1863 . The ordinance required
that people build buildings of brick within the central
part of the city, and that the buildings be separated
by thick walls.
Excerpt from the Brick
Ordinance of 1863
“All
that portion of the City of Denver embraced within the
following described limits, shall hereafter be known
as the fire limits of said city: Beginning in the center
of the alley between Wazee and Wynkoop streets, where
the same intersects Cherry Creek; thence along the center
of said alley in a northeasterly direction to the center
of G (Sixteenth) Street; thence southwesterly along
the center of said street to the center of the alley
between Larimer and Lawrence streets; thence along the
center of said alley southwesterly to its intersection
with the Cherry Creek; thence down to Fifth (Larimer)
Street; thence westerly along the center of said street
to the center the alley between Ferry (Eleventh) and
St. Louis (Tenth) streets; thence northerly along the
center of said alley to the center of Second (Wewatta)
Street; thence along the center of said street in an
easterly direction and up Cherry Creek to the place
of beginning.”
atta)
Street; thence along the center of said street in an
easterly direction and up Cherry Creek to the place
of beginning.”
Your
Turn:
Read the exerpt from the brick ordinance above.
On the map printed on your passport, trace the area
affected by the brick ordinance. Shade the area
with a red crayon to indicate that after the Great
Fire, all the buildings in the district had to be
built of brick.
For help tracing the boundaries of the Fire District,
click here. |
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Fires
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A Permanent City
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