St. John's, Canada · 1892Great Fire of St. John'sDowntown and the cathedral gone in one evening, from a pipe. How did it beat every stone wall?On 8 July 1892 a dropped pipe in a stable started a fire that took the cathedral and the Water Street and Duckworth Street businesses.
Photo: 田代幸春 · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons
Burned and Rebuilt? · Tokyo, Japan
Great Fire of Meireki
The open question
Burned, cleared and rebuilt bigger. What did the old town look like, and why are there so few pictures of it?
On the record
The Great Fire of Meireki (明暦の大火, Meireki no taika), also known as the Great Furisode Fire, destroyed 60–70% of Edo (now Tokyo), then de facto capital city of Japan, on 2 March 1657, the third year of the Meireki Era. Commoners and samurai retainers alike were granted funds from the government for the rebuilding of their homes, and the restoration of the shōgun's castle was left to be completed last.
- Year
- 1657
- Kind
- burned-rebuilt
Sources
More from Burned and Rebuilt?
St. John's, Canada · 1892Great Fire of St. John'sDowntown and the cathedral gone in one evening, from a pipe. How did it beat every stone wall?On 8 July 1892 a dropped pipe in a stable started a fire that took the cathedral and the Water Street and Duckworth Street businesses.
Saint John, Canada · 1877Great Fire of Saint JohnA third of the people homeless in a day. How did the city come back in brick so fast?On 20 June 1877 fire destroyed more than 1,600 structures, two-fifths of the city, and left about 13,000 people homeless.
Toronto, Canada · 1904Great Toronto FireA hundred downtown buildings, one death. What was in those buildings?On 19 April 1904 over 100 buildings in downtown Toronto burned; one person died.
Vancouver, Canada · 1886Great Vancouver FireA city named in April, burned in June, rebuilt within the year. Why so soon after the new name?On 13 June 1886 fire destroyed most of the city, just two months after it was incorporated.