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[[Image:1880Fire.jpg|thumb|right|Photo of the fire's devastation]]
[[Image:1880Fire2.jpg|thumb|right|Only brick chimneys remained of some buildings]]
A '''fire''' that erupted in the early morning of [[December 11]], [[1880]] destroyed five blocks of [[downtown Pensacola]], including several government buildings and "nine-tenths" of the city's business district.
The fire spread quickly by a brisk wind, sweeping down [[Palafox Street|Palafox]] from [[Romana Street|Romana]] to [[Government Street]]s. Reaction to the fire was slow, as the only steam-powered fire engine in town was at a machinist's shop being repaired, but eventually citizens formed a bucket brigade. The fire was stopped at the [[City Hotel]] near [[Tarragona Street]] to the east, and behind the [[Old Customs House|Customs House]] to the west.
Damages were estimated between $500,000 to over $1 million. Two lives were lost.<ref>Hoskins, Frank W. (1928). ''[http://fulltext10.fcla.edu/DLData/WF/WF00000044/file19.pdf The History of Methodism in Pensacola, Florida: Its Rise and Progress]''. Cokesbury Press. p. 79.</ref> Over 100 buildings and businesses were razed by the fire, including:
*The [[Old Customs House|U.S. Customs House]] and all its records
*The [[Escambia County Tax Collector]]'s office
*The [[Yniestra Building]], including [[Frater and Monroe]]'s dry goods & grocery
*The [[Moreno Building]]
*The [[Roche Roache Block]]
*[[N. B. Cook]] & Company, groceries
*[[A. L. Avery|A. L.]] & [[A. M. Avery]]'s [[Avery Hardware|hardware store]]
Many of the businesses had just received their Fall stocks. Insurance coverage was initially estimated at $250,000.
The [[Escambia County Clerk of Court|County Clerk]], [[Felo Filomeno de la Rua]], rescued the important records from his office at the cost of his own residence, which was also destroyed by the fire.
==ReferencessReferences==
{{refbegin}}
*"Fire's Disastrous Work: the Business Part of Pensacola Nearly Destroyed." ''New York Times'', December 12, 1880.
*"Fire and Disaster." ''Boston Daily Globe'', December 12, 1880.
{{refend}}
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Fires]]
