The Chelsea Fire

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The front page headlines in the April 13, 1908, issue of the The Boston Globe newspaper told the story of the disaster succinctly: “1000 BUILDINGS BURNED, DAMAGE $12,000,000.” Beneath that, smaller headlines read, “CHELSEA FIRE COSTS THREE LIVES, HUNDREDS INJURED…350 ACRES FLAME-SWEPT—10,000 HOMELESS.” To put that loss in perspective, consider the fact that $12 million back then is equivalent to more than $400 million today.

Wind-Fueled Flames

April 12 started out as a normal day in Chelsea, Massachusetts, a small town located on a peninsula in Boston Harbor. Around 11 o’clock in the morning, a fire broke out in one of the Boston Blacking Company’s wooden buildings. Although the fire department was able to quickly get it under control, high winds carried sparks to nearby houses. Before long, all the structures in the area were ablaze. The article reported that

“a high wind drove sparks across acres of wooden tenements, skipping some and seizing upon others in its flight, until there was a red pathway nearly a mile in width and the flames had assumed a ferocity to which solid brick and granite had to yield.”

Realizing that he didn’t have the manpower to extinguish the fire, Chelsea fire chief Henry Spencer called on fire departments in the surrounding area, including Boston, Lynn, Medford, and Revere, for help. The Boston Globe article described the scene as “literally a race for life” and added the following vivid description:

“All along Walnut and Poplar sts. stood little houses with only a few feet separating them, with occasionally a two-and-half story wooden tenement block. All were inhabited by poor people with large families. In this section the Jewish inhabitants predominated, and they were in panic. Many of them could not speak English and all were frantic, frenzied with fear. Dragging small articles, little pictures hastily caught from the walls, or bundles of children’s clothing, women dragging little ones, they fled to the railroad station with the fire in close pursuit.”

Path of Destruction 

The city was quickly placed under martial law. The police station became an improvised hospital to treat minor burns and cuts, while the Chelsea high school building was opened to provide care and food for women and children. Some of the people rendered homeless by the fire were able to stay with friends and relatives in the area, while others had nowhere to go and could do nothing but wait on the streets outside the city.

The blaze continued unabated on a path toward the waterfront. It soon reached the Tidewater Oil Company’s yards, where five oil tanks caught fire. To prevent an explosion, marines shot holes in the tanks to release the oil, and the flaming oil flowed to the water, setting fire to the company’s barges. Across the creek, the Standard Oil Company was saved due to the labor of 200 men, but Tidewater’s property was decimated. It was not until the fire reached the waterfront that firefighters were able to start getting it under control.

No Known Cause

According to one theory concerning the fire’s origin, it was caused by some boys who had started a fire in a dump near the blacking company’s buildings. The wind reportedly picked up a pile of burning rags and dropped them against the building, where they smoldered and eventually ignited the roof’s shingles. However, theories are just that, and the exact cause was never determined.

There was an outpouring of support for victims of the blaze. Within a week, more than $250,000 dollars had been donated to a relief fund that was set up immediately after the fire. According to a Wikipedia article, approximately 350 acres were destroyed. In total, 19 people died, and between 10,000 and 15,000 lost their homes.

One of a Kind

On the reverse of a 1902 nickel, APRIL 12. 1908/CHELSEA FIRE has been neatly engraved with block lettering. We can only speculate as to why this was done. I’ve found nothing to suggest that it was made for sale as a remembrance of the tragedy (and I imagine most survivors would rather forget the disaster). More likely, it is a one-of-a-kind piece created by a local engraver to a customer’s specifications. The host coin might well have been found in the ruins and used for that reason, but again, that is merely speculation.

Other types of items were produced soon after the fire. On April 23, it was announced that at the Harbor View Yacht Club’s annual ball, a percentage of the receipts would be donated to Chelsea fire victims, and that “a handsome souvenir” would be given to each event attendee. Unfortunately, the “handsome souvenir” was not described. The Suffolk Novelty Company advertised six views of the fire for 10 cents, and other firms jumped on the souvenir views bandwagon.

I welcome readers’ comments. Write to me at P.O. Box 2866, La Plata, MD 20646. If a reply is desired, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

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A version of this article appears in the December 2025 issue of The Numismatist (money.org)