Great Baltimore Fire - Aftermath

Aftermath

Over $150,000,000 worth of damage was done. Immediately after the fire, Mayor Robert McLane was quoted in the Baltimore News as saying, "To suppose that the spirit of our people will not rise to the occasion is to suppose that our people are not genuine Americans. We shall make the fire of 1904 a landmark not of decline but of progress." He then refused assistance, stating "As head of this municipality, I cannot help but feel gratified by the sympathy and the offers of practical assistance which have been tendered to us. To them I have in general terms replied, 'Baltimore will take care of its own, thank you.'" Two years later, on September 10, 1906, the Baltimore Sun reported that the city had risen from the ashes and "One of the great disasters of modern time had been converted into a blessing."

Many books written on the Great Fire state that no deaths occurred as a direct relation to the fire. A historical marker that commemorates the Great Fire, located next to the main entrance of the Port Discovery Children's Museum, also reads "Lives Lost: None." However, a recently rediscovered Baltimore Sun newspaper story from the time tells of the charred remains of a "colored man" being pulled from the harbor, near the area where the USS Constellation is currently docked, days after the fire.

Five lost lives were attributed indirectly to the fire. Two members of the 4th Regiment of the Maryland National Guard, Private John Undutch of Company F and Second Lieutenant John V. Richardson of Company E both fell ill and died as a result of pneumonia. Fireman Mark Kelly and Fire Lieutenant John A. McKnew also died of pneumonia and tuberculosis due to exposure during the Great Fire. The fifth person who died as a result of the Fire was Martin Mullin, the proprietor of Mullin's Hotel. Located on the northwest corner of Baltimore and Liberty Streets, the hotel was a block away from the John E. Hurst Building.

In the aftermath, 35,000 people were left unemployed. After the fire, the city was rebuilt using more fireproof materials, such as granite pavers.