The New England Manufacturers and Mechanics
Institute Building. Image from
www.stcroixarchitecture.com/

By Elizabeth Gillis

The fire wagon, pulled by horses, hurried up Huntington Avenue. The first wagon carried the firemen and perhaps there was another that carried the fire hose.
When they arrived they saw what a desperate situation it was so a second fire alarm went in. The building housed the Metropolitan Horse Railroad where horse cars and supplies were stored. The fire had started in one corner where paint and oil were kept.
It was June, 1886, and one newspaper described it as “one of the grandest fires seen in this city since the Great Fire of 1872.” The New England Manufacturers and Mechanics Institute Building, erected in 1881, covered almost five acres. There had been industrial and art shows in the vast exhibit areas. In the winter it was used as a skating rink. Pedestrian and bicycle events were also held there. Horse cars came every five minutes from the Tremont House, a hotel down town.

Now that it was owned by the horse railway company there were 100 workers in the building, repairing and maintaining the cars that traversed the city. Many jumped out windows to escape the spreading flames. One man was trapped as he tried to get out a window just as the roof collapsed down upon him as his friends tried to help. Onlookers watched helplessly since a ladder company had yet to arrive. One worker went back in order to get some of his property and was not seen again.

In less than two hours with the wind whipping the flames this mammoth building was nothing but ashes and charred remains. Even the iron railings were twisted and distorted. The death toll was first listed as eight but there may have been more victims found later in the ruins. There were many with serious burns. Two made a futile attempt to pull out some of the street cars but had to run to save themselves.
While the fire raged people stood on the roofs of nearby buildings to watch. There weren’t many buildings at that end of Huntington Avenue (now part of Northeastern University) but people on Mission Hill must have seen it.

The financial loss was estimated to be $400,000. Four hundred horse cars, valued at $700 each, were destroyed. The horses were safely stabled elsewhere.

Elizabeth Gillis lives in the West Fenway. A version of this article appeared in the October 2009 edition of the Fenway News.