Wednesday marks the 150th anniversary of the Great Boston Fire of 1872, which is remembered as the largest fire in the city.
The fire began on the 80 block of Summer Street, and would go on to burn through 776 buildings, spanning 65 acres of Downtown and the Financial District.
A series of unique circumstances came together to create a perfect storm for the fire to happen and get as bad as it did. In the years following the Civil War, the City of Boston had been undergoing major development, but upgrades to infrastructure — such as water mains — had not been done yet.
Plus, the city's fire department was dealing with a disease impacting its horses, which negatively impacted the agency's ability to transport the heavy firefighting equipment, according to the Boston Fire Historical Society.
The fire was finally stopped at the corner of Milk and Washington Streets, thanks to work by the firefighters to protect the Old South Meetinghouse.
The fire would burn for 12 hours, and there are conflicting reports to the number of people killed.
