The old Southern Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri in the United States burned down on April 11, 1877, killing 21 people.
[1] The building, located between Fourth, Fifth, Walnut and Elm,[2] was utterly destroyed by the catastrophe, leaving "jagged, smoking ruins.
[1] Also, according to the St. Louis Dispatch the next morning, "A girl on Fifth Street, between Elm and Myrtle, had her dress set on fire by the falling cinders and would undoubtedly have perished had not a big German snatched off her outer dress and trampled it underfoot.
"[3] Amongst the dead was a vicar from Stockross, Berkshire, England,[5] an American reverend, a Masonic secretary, two female servants, and an executive of the Missouri Pacific Railway.
[7] it was surmised that the "immense draft of the baggage elevator" pulled the flames upwards through the building.